The International Olympic Committee is primed to place the process of handling positive drug tests in the hands of independent arbitrators starting with the Rio de Janeiro Olympics this summer, according to a report from the Associated Press.
Instead of the IOC dealing with these cases, they will be sent to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in an effort to make the doping prosecution process more independent. The CAS is a Swiss-based group originally commissioned by the IOC and considered highest court for any disputes in sports — not just doping issues.
The new process will put CAS arbitrators on site in Rio, and should any doping cases emerge, they will be presented to these arbitrators. The hearings and rulings issued would be completely free of any IOC involvement.
The move comes out of an increased effort to improve the credibility and reliability of drug rulings following multiple doping scandals in recent months. IOC President Thomas Bach even recommended all sanctions from positive drug tests be handed down from the CAS, as opposed to the individual sports bodies.
Both Russia and Kenya are mixed up in doping scandals that could prevent athletes from the two countries from participating in Rio. The World Anti-Doping Agency ruled that Russia’s anti-doping agency was non-compliant in November. The world governing body for track and field, the International Association of Athletics Federations, also banned the Russian track and field team from international competition.
Kenya faces an April 5 deadline for WADA compliance, otherwise its track and field athletes could be in the same boat as Russia’s. More than 40 Kenyan athletes had positive drug tests in the last four years, and the country needs to develop and fund its very own testing agency, according to WADA President Craig Reedie.
Brazil itself is also the subject of WADA-imposed deadline. The Olympic host country has until March 18 to meet testing guidelines, otherwise it will be declared non-compliant and all samples will have to be shipped out of the country for testing.
