Two athletes that were provisionally suspended by FINA ahead of the swimming competitions of Tokyo 2020 have been cleared to compete by the Court of Arbitration in Sport. The athletes are Alexandr KUDASHEV (ROC) and Veronika ANDRUSENKO (ROC).
FINA asserted ADRVs against the athletes and provisionally suspended them on the basis of evidence supplied by WADA, and stemming from WADA’s examination of materials recovered from the former Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory, including the Laboratory Information Management System. Evidentiary packages had not previously been supplied against these athletes when WADA prosecuted the strongest cases resulting from its Operation LIMS for sanctioning.
“FINA fully recognises CAS as the independent adjudicatory body in cases such as these. We’re grateful for their quick consideration of this matter, and we will both respect and implement CAS’s decision. FINA is also grateful to WADA for its diligence in bringing the Operation LIMS information to our attention. As a proud signatory of the WADA Code, we were duty-bound to follow up quickly and carefully on the material provided,” said FINA President Husain Al-Musallam. “FINA remains fully committed to protecting clean athletes and promoting clean competition at Tokyo 2020, just as we do for all the events on our calendar.”
FINA’s out of competition testing and test distribution planning are handled by the International Testing Agency, which also handles the Tokyo 2020 anti-doping programme on behalf of the IOC. FINA is thankful for the ITA’s efforts which have ensured that, despite the circumstances of the pandemic, an effective volume and targeting of out-of-competition testing has been maintained in the lead-up to the Olympic Games.
A copy of the operative portion of the CAS decision can be found here