"The decision looks ridiculous": how CAS ADD found Ustyugov guilty of anti-doping rule violation

"This decision speaks of the lack of independence"

Evgeny Ustyugov was found guilty of an anti-doping rule violation on Tuesday morning, October 27.

The lawyer of the former athlete Alexey Panich told reporters about this.

According to him, the anti-doping panel of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS ADD) canceled all the results of the ex-biathlete in the period from January 24, 2010 to the end of the 2013/14 season.

At the same time, the lawyer said that this verdict is not final and will be appealed to the CAS within 21 days.

Panich called the decision of the CAS ADD "ridiculous" and stressed that it was "a copy of the statement of the International Biathlon Union to find Ustyugov guilty in the absence of any legal analysis and justification."

The lawyer noted that the anti-doping rule violation case against Eugene was closed in 2018, but the IBU, according to the lawyer, reopened the case without any new evidence.

“This is a flagrant violation of the generally recognized principle of res judicata.

CAS ADD does not have the competence to consider this dispute at all, since Evgeny never agreed with the competence of this body, created only after the adoption of the new IBU constitution in 2019, that is, five years after Evgeny ended his career.

Even the IBU initially agreed that CAS ADD could not consider the Ustyugov case, but then changed his mind and, in violation of legal norms, sent his statement to an incompetent authority, ”Panich TASS quoted as saying.

The lawyer was also outraged by the fact that the arbiter did not take into account the results of genetic studies, which confirmed the presence of mutations in Ustyugov, which led to the fact that the level of hemoglobin in the body of the former athlete was constantly increased.

“The arbitrator refused to take into account even the samples taken officially by the IBU in 2017, which also contained increased hemoglobin levels.

The arbitrator made an absolutely ridiculous conclusion that the increased hemoglobin in the 2017 samples was due to the fact that Ustyugov simply continued to take prohibited substances, ”he added.

Panich recalled that in his entire career, his client did not have a single positive doping test.

The test for 2017 also gave a negative result, when the former biathlete had already stopped performing.

“Thus, this decision speaks of the lack of independence of the CAS ADD, and also contains many violations of legal norms.

We believe in Ustyugov's innocence and will appeal this unfair decision to the end, ”the lawyer concluded.

Meanwhile, Russia, after a verdict on Ustyugov, risks losing three Olympic medals at once.

At the Olympic Games 2010 in Vancouver, Evgeny became one of the few domestic athletes who managed to please the fans.

He won gold in the mass start and helped the Russian team (accompanied by Ivan Tcherezov, Anton Shipulin and Maxim Chudov) to take third place in the relay.

However, even if Russia is left without these awards, it will not drop lower in the medal standings, retaining 11th place with two gold, five silver and six bronze awards.

But Frenchman Martin Fourcade can become a six-time Olympic champion, because in Canada he lost to Ustyugov in the mass start and took the second place.

But according to the results of the home Olympics, the country risks losing its leadership in the medal standings.

In Sochi, Ustyugov, together with Shipulin, Dmitry Malyshko and Alexei Volkov, again took the lead in the relay.

If the result is annulled, Russia will drop to second place, leaving Norway behind.  

"Overseas comrades are looking for reasons to get to the bottom of our athletes"

In Russia, the CAS ADD decision sparked outrage.

For example, Mikhail Svishchev, a member of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs, said that a powerful attack has long been going on domestic sports. 

“As far as I understand, Ustyugov has already argued that in his case, the increased level of hemoglobin is the result of genetic mutations that were passed on to him from his parents.

But we cannot assess whether this is so or not.

We are not professionals, we cannot say ", - quotes Svishchev" Sport-Express ".

The famous athletes, who are currently members of the State Duma, also spoke about what happened.

In particular, ex-world boxing champion Nikolai Valuev stressed that Ustyugov needs to appeal the CAS ADD decision.

And the three-time Olympic champion in figure skating, Irina Rodnina, complained that athletes from Russia are “treated with passion”.

“Probably, we also need to draw certain conclusions, play ahead of the curve, and not wait for the Olympic medals to be taken away.

Unfortunately, we have not worked out any position for ourselves here.

We follow the schedule set by WADA, pass laws, change laboratories, conduct examinations.

But at the same time, there should be a work schedule of its own, ”Rodnina said.

In turn, the former president of the SBR, Vladimir Drachev, said that the former athlete should file an appeal.

And two-time Olympic champion Sergei Chepikov expressed surprise that doping samples from the Olympic Games in Vancouver became interested only during the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi.

This angered the two-time world champion Dmitry Yaroshenko.

He advised the anti-doping service to “check everyone in a row,” and not just Russian athletes.

He also doubted that the relevant body is independent. 

Two-time Olympic champion Dmitry Vasiliev, in turn, stressed that Russia "is under colossal Western pressure." 

“And here is Vancouver, I don't understand at all.

More than ten years have passed since the victory.

I can still admit what happened in Sochi, but I don't understand why WADA's decision is so delayed.

Now innocent athletes - Volkov, Shipulin, Malyshko - are held hostage.

They are completely innocent.

Why didn't WADA say before that there are any suspicions that Ustyugov has problems with doping tests? .. Without a doubt, this is a completely selective approach.

Until now, no one cares about the decision with the runner from Great Britain Mo Faroy, who won all four Olympic medals on doping, ”Sport24 quotes Vasiliev as saying.

"I am accused of a non-existent, mythical doping scheme"

In April 2018, information appeared in the media about an investigation into Ustyugov due to abnormal blood counts.

Later, Drachev, who by that time was still the president of the SBR, confirmed this information, but stated that Ustyugov's guilt had not been proven.

In February 2020, Drachev announced the opening of a new IBU case against Eugene.

At the same time, the International Biathlon Union announced the disqualification of Ustyugov, as well as Svetlana Sleptsova.

All of the athlete's results between 27 August 2013 and the end of the 2013/14 season have been canceled.

Thus, he lost his 2014 Olympic gold medal.

Ustyugov himself called the incident "lawlessness." 

“It just pisses me off that everyone has the impression that I'm guilty, some experts just so easily declare that oxandrolone was found in my blood.

I am accused of a non-existent, mythical doping scheme: mythical informant - mythical files.

Neither one nor the other was even shown to me.

Apparently, because it is quite problematic to show a myth in real life, and this is despite the fact that I am a two-time Olympic champion and in my entire career I have not had a single positive test, I passed dozens of tests, and most of them are abroad.

I will appeal to the CAS.

Lawyers are already doing this, ”TASS quoted Ustyugov as saying. 

In early March, the former athlete filed an appeal with the CAS.

The consideration of the case was originally scheduled for October 20, but in the end the meeting was postponed to the 27th.