Grigory Rodchenkov’s lawyer Jim Walden has sharply criticized the judgment of the International Sports Court CAS in the Russian cases. On Thursday, CAS lifted the lifelong Olympic penalties imposed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on 28 Russian athletes.
“Due to the unfortunate decision of this committee, some athletes receive a small penalty, others are completely spared. The CAS decision encourages fraudsters to make it harder for clean athletes and invites the corrupt Russian doping system and Putin to further illegal victories,”the New York lawyer told SID.
Walden explained that Rodchenkow had “fully testified” at the hearing. His explanations were confirmed by forensic evidence, statements from other whistleblowers and the secret database of the Moscow laboratory. According to Walden,”1000 dirty tricks” had come to light and were “covered up”.
The IOC had banned 43 Russian athletes for life because of the violation of anti-doping guidelines at the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi in 2014.42 of them moved to CAS. The Court lifted the suspensions in 28 cases, and the objections of the athletes were partially confirmed in eleven other cases. Three cases are still under investigation.
The whistleblower Rodchenkov, who fled to the USA, headed the Moscow doping control laboratory for years and was the mastermind behind the doping scandal surrounding the winter games in Sochi. Rodchenkov is in FBI witness protection after his momentous revelations in the USA and fears for his life.