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International Arbitration Forum

Fédération Internationale de Ski (FIS) v. Valentyna Kaminska

Case summary

At a glance

Parties
Fédération Internationale de Ski (FIS) v. Valentyna Kaminska (Ukraine)
Case no.
CAS 2022/ADD/52
Forum and rules
Court of Arbitration for Sport, Anti-Doping Division (CAS ADD Rules); FIS Anti-Doping Rules 2021, Swiss law subsidiarily
Tribunal
Raphaëlle Favre Schnyder (Sole Arbitrator)
Sector
Cross-country skiing; doping
Outcome
FIS application upheld (7 November 2023). Four years of ineligibility, with credit for the provisional suspension served since 21 February 2022.

The dispute

Valentyna Kaminska is a Ukrainian cross-country skier who competed at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games. Her in-competition sample of 10 February 2022 returned adverse analytical findings for three substances. Mesterolone (a metabolite was found) is a non-specified anabolic steroid. 5-methylhexan-2-amine and heptaminol are specified stimulants. The IOC brought the case before the CAS Anti-Doping Division, and FIS joined as co-claimant. A Partial Award of 6 March 2023 found an anti-doping rule violation and ended the IOC's participation. This award decides the sanction under the FIS Anti-Doping Rules outside the Olympic Games. The Athlete admitted the violation. She said it was not intentional and probably came from contaminated supplements. She argued that the war in Ukraine had stopped her from obtaining most of the supplements for testing. FIS asked for the standard four-year ban.

Key holdings

  1. The Partial Award of 6 March 2023 and the Athlete's own admission establish the violation of Article 2.1 and/or 2.2. The Partial Award binds this proceeding under Article 3.2.4 FIS ADR and the principle of res iudicata. The only open issue was the sanction. ¶ 71
  2. At least one of the substances (mesterolone) is non-specified. The standard sanction is therefore four years unless the Athlete proves on a balance of probability that the violation was not intentional. Her denials and apparent sincerity, offered without other evidence, are not enough. ¶¶ 74–76
  3. The Sole Arbitrator accepted that the war made it hard to obtain some supplements for testing. But three different substances in one sample make contamination less likely. Some of the supplements were made in France, the USA, the Czech Republic, Poland and Germany and could have been obtained, so the Athlete had not taken all possible steps to find the source. ¶¶ 80–84
  4. Olympic athletes owe a very high personal duty of care, and a doctor's prescription does not relieve them of it. By taking a supplement (Sedafiton forte) from the team doctor one pill at a time, without the pack, the Athlete took a significant risk that she knew or must have known might lead to a violation. She therefore failed to rebut intent under Article 10.2.3 FIS ADR. ¶¶ 85–89
  5. No reduction under Articles 10.5 or 10.6, because the source of the substances was not established. No reduction under Article 10.7.2 either, because the admission came after notice of the sample collection. ¶ 90
  6. The Athlete is banned for four years from the date the award enters into force. The provisional suspension served from 21 February 2022 is credited against the ban. The award's reasoning puts the end of the ineligibility period at 20 February 2026. ¶ 91; operative part

Procedural history

  1. 10 February 2022The Athlete gave an in-competition sample at the Beijing Olympics. The laboratory reported adverse analytical findings on 15 February 2022.
  2. 21 February 2022The Athlete was provisionally suspended. The B-sample analysis on 23 February 2022 confirmed the A-sample findings.
  3. 9 March 2022The ITA issued a Notice of Charge.
  4. 26 July 2022The Lausanne laboratory's final report found that the supplements tested did not contain any of the three substances.
  5. 19 October 2022The IOC filed its application with the CAS ADD. FIS said on 24 October 2022 that it would join as co-claimant.
  6. 6 March 2023Partial Award: the Athlete committed an anti-doping rule violation, and the IOC's participation ended.
  7. 3 April 2023FIS filed its request for relief on the sanction. The sanction phase was decided on the written submissions, without a hearing.
  8. 7 November 2023Award: four-year period of ineligibility.

Tribunal, counsel and experts

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Keywords

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Case ID
CAS 2022/ADD/52
Claimant
Fédération Internationale de Ski (FIS)
Respondent
Valentyna Kaminska
Documents

Procedure: Anti-Doping Division
Sport: Skiing
Matter: Doping
Outcome: Upheld
Panel: Raphaëlle Favre Schnyder
Source: Court of Arbitration for Sport case database.