The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) says that Kamila Valieva’s doping test was sent to a Stockholm lab in due course.
The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) has insisted that it was not the fault of delays in Kamila Valieva’s doping test after appearing to have been blamed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Monday rejected an attempt by WADA on Monday to suspend 15-year-old Russian figure skating prodigy Valieva from the games in Beijing for a positive doping test from December 25.
Through a statement, RUSADA responded to the CAS judgment and answered to allegations that it had not flagged the case as a priority with a WADA-accredited laboratory in Stockholm, which probably caused a delay for the result to be returned.
The Russian body stressed that it was “necessary” to clarify some points about the delay in the analysis of the athlete’s test due to “the information disseminated in the media.”
RUSADA insisted that Valieva’s samples taken during the Russian championships in December be delivered to the laboratory in Sweden “in sufficient time to carry out the analysis within the standard time frame.”
“After the expiration of the international standard informed the laboratory [RUSADA] of delays in testing and reporting due to another wave of Covid-19, [and] an increase in the incidence [of cases] among laboratory personnel and quarantine rules, “RUSADA continued.
“At the same time, in its communications, the laboratory set deadlines for the availability of the analysis results, which makes it possible [us] to receive information from the laboratory by the end of January 2022, ie before the start of the Beijing Olympics.
“Also in January, the laboratory informed [us] that the analysis would be performed as a priority, but a negative analysis report was submitted on February 7, 2022, “RUSADA added.
“The disclosure of other details regarding the procedure for analyzing the athlete’s test is unacceptable and may lead to a violation of the interests of the parties,” RUSADA warned.
RUSADA issued Valieva with a temporary suspension after receiving the positive test result last week, but that suspension was lifted by a disciplinary panel following an appeal from the figure skater – a decision backed by CAS on Monday.
RUSADA said it was continuing to investigate the case and that an independent disciplinary body would “evaluate all circumstances related to a possible breach of the anti-doping rule.”
RUSADA’s rebuttal comes after WADA provided its own response to the CAS ruling, which apparently puts the blame on the door to Russian officials for the delay in the test result.
“According to information received by WADA, the sample in this case was not flagged by RUSADA as a priority sample when received by the anti-doping laboratory in Stockholm, Sweden. This meant that the laboratory did not know how to quickly track analysis of this sample,” WADA claimed.
CAS made its decision because of figure skating Valieva’s status as a “protected person” as a minor under the WADA Code, while fearing that excluding her from further competitions in Beijing 2022 would cause her “irreparable harm”.
The delay in receiving the test result, which came only after Valieva had helped the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) win gold in the figure skating team on February 7, was also a factor in the CAS ruling.
CAS noted that Valieva has not tested positive in Beijing, while the ROC has stressed that the skater repeatedly returned negative tests before and after her positive test for the banned heart drug trimethazidine.
Valieva will now go for gold in the individual women’s figure skating event in Beijing, starting with the short program on Tuesday before the free skate routines on Thursday.
The IOC has already done so confirmed it will not hold a medal ceremony if Valieva reaches a podium due to the ongoing investigation of her positive test.
(RT.com)
Source: sn.dk