The Court Of Arbitration For Sport (CAS) Reduces The Suspension Of Russian Race Walker Alexander Ivanov To Two Years

Press Release

17th February 2020

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has partially upheld an appeal filed by the Russian race walker Alexander Ivanov against the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) in relation to a decision issued by the RUSADA Anti-Doping Committee in October 2018 (the Challenged Decision). The period of ineligibility imposed on Alexander Ivanov in the Challenged decision has been reduced from three years to two years, beginning on 2 May 2017. All competitive results of Alexander Ivanov from 9 July 2012 to 17 August 2014 are disqualified, with all resulting consequences.

In his appeal to the CAS, Alexander Ivanov sought the annulment of the Challenged Decision in which, further to analysis of his Athlete Biological Passport (ABP), he was found to have committed an AntiDoping Rule Violation (ADRV) according to the 2012-2013 IAAF Anti-Doping Rules (2012-2013 IAAF ADR) and was given the mandatory sanction of a two-year period of ineligibility, together with an additional period of one year due to “aggravating circumstances”, resulting in a three-year period of ineligibility.

The CAS arbitration was conducted by Dr. Annabelle Bennett (Australia) sitting as a Sole Arbitrator. A hearing was held in Lausanne, Switzerland in December 2019.

The Sole Arbitrator was comfortably satisfied that RUSADA had established that the conclusion to be drawn from Alexander Ivanov’s ABP was that he had used a prohibited substance or prohibited method and that as a consequence Alexander Ivanov had committed an ADRV according to the 2012-2013 IAAF ADR, for which the mandatory sanction of a two-year period of ineligibility was not disputed. However, the factual elements put forward by RUSADA were not sufficient to support a finding of “aggravated circumstances” applicable to the athlete and the addition of a further one-year period of ineligibility. Accordingly, the period of ineligibility was fixed at two years.

Monday, 17 February 2020