In the ever-evolving global anti-doping environment, this week the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced a significant change in the handling of positive drug tests rendered during the Rio Olympic Games.
In an effort to promote prosecutorial objectivity, during the Games a special panel of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will rule on doping cases as opposed to the IOC. Prior to this point, an IOC-President-appointed disciplinary panel within the organization scheduled athlete hearings for positive doping cases and ultimately decided sanctions.
In Rio, athletes who test positive for prohibited substances will see their cases land directly in the hands of a new, on-site CAS doping division. Then, from a pool of 5-6 arbitrators, CAS will then select a panel of 1 to 3 members to hear the cases and determine ruling. IOC will not be involved in the process. (AP)
With the change, CAS President John Coates says, the athletes who tested positive “will appear before a hearing where the procedure and the judge are different people. Athletes will now have an independent body determining her or her fate.”
Of this protocol alteration, Coates says, “athletes should be pleased. This is taking the IOC out of results management and out of hearings.”
The change is aimed at fulfilling IOC President Thomas Bach’s initiative to render the global process of drug-testing and sanctioning more credible, by way of removing potential conflicts of interest.
“This is a major step forward to make doping testing independent, following the decision of the IOC Executive Board three months ago after the proposal of the Olympic Summit. It represents support for the IOC’s zero tolerance policy in the fight against doping and in the protection of the clean athletes,” IOC President Thomas Bach said.
Coates also indicated that CAS will be providing lawyers, pro-bono, to defend athletes, if needed. And, in terms of appeals against the panel’s decision, a separate CAS divisions will hear the cases, of which no members would have already been involved in the initial case.
Mark Adams, spokesman for the IOC, also said the new “CAS division would decide on subsequent retesting of samples, which was also previously handled by the IOC.”
Also related to the subject of doping, Rio’s own drug-testing lab has until March 18th to meet WADA guidelines in order to not be deemed non-compliant. If the lab fails to meet standards, Rio would not be able to conduct actual athlete doping testing, thus posing logistical and financial challenges in having to send samples elsewhere during the Games.