Be patient. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced in a brief statement on Thursday 28 September that the Kamila Valieva case would not be concluded this week. The hearings began on Tuesday 26 September, as planned. But they could not be concluded in three days. The CAS has announced that the hearings have ended for this first phase, but will resume on 9 and 10 November 2023. “Following the presentation of evidence by the parties, the panel requested the production of further documents and, in order to allow the parties to consider and respond to this request, decided to hold two additional days of hearings to consider the appeal“, states the Lausanne-based court. With this new postponement, it now seems unlikely that the CAS decision will be handed down before the end of the year. And with it, the award of medals by the IOC for the team figure skating event at the Beijing 2022 Winter Games. The appeal to CAS was lodged by three parties: the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the International Skating Union (ISU) and the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA). WADA is calling for a four-year suspension, while the ISU is asking for a two-year sanction. RUSADA, whose independent disciplinary commission cleared Kamila Valieva, has suggested that a simple reprimand would be sufficient.
