Lausanne, 5 November 2020 - The hearing in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) arbitration procedure between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) took place, as scheduled, from 2-5 November 2020.
The hearings were held over four days, from 2 to 5 November 2020, in a mixed format with the personal presence of the parties, legal representatives and expert witnesses attending either in-person or by video-conference.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC), the Russian Ice Hockey Federation, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the European Olympic Committees (EOC) and several Russian athletes have been admitted as intervening parties.
The procedure is being conducted by an Arbitral Panel composed of Judge Mark L. Williams, S.C. (Australia), President, Prof. Luigi Fumagalli (Italy) and Dr. Hamid G. Gharavi (France / Iran) (CoArbitrators).
The award will be notified to the parties by the end of this year.
Mikhail Bukhanov, acting director general of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA)
“These have been four rather difficult working days. I cannot disclose the details of the hearings, but I understand that the arbitrators will face an incredibly difficult task. The history has no analogues process, and the decision, whatever it may be, will also become historical. We hope that the arbitrators will take into account our arguments and make a fair decision. "
Background
On 9 December 2019, the WADA CRC recommendation of non-compliance was adopted by the WADA Executive Committee and WADA subsequently proceeded to propose certain consequences and reinstatement conditions on RUSADA.
On December 27, 2019, an extraordinary general meeting of RUSADA members approved the recommendation of the agency's supervisory board not to agree with the WADA verdict.
On January 9, 2020, WADA filed a claim with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against RUSADA.