The Court of Arbitration for Sport has confirmed that it expects a ruling in the Alberto Contador case prior to the start of this year’s Tour de France, laying out a likely timetable for the case today.
“The written proceedings in this matter are likely to be concluded at the end of May and the CAS envisages to hold a hearing in June 2011, which would allow the settlement of the dispute before the end of June 2011,” it stated.
The Lausanne-based court added that the specific date of the hearing would be announced once it has been determined.
Contador won his third Tour de France last July but that victory plus his licence to race are under threat due to his positive test for Clenbuterol. Samples taken on the second rest day of the race plus in subsequent days showed trace amounts of the substance; it is banned in any amount, and sportspeople in similar situations have generally been handed bans of between one to two years.
More recently, a small number of cases have seen no bans handed down, but these have been in relation to sportspeople competing in China or South America, where there is a known problem with contamination of the substance. Substances such as Clenbuterol are far more tightly controlled in Europe, a point acknowledged by Contador’s legal team in his written defence.
Contador insists that he didn’t intentionally dope and has rejected suggestions that he either knowingly took the substance during the race or used it beforehand, then transfused extracted blood back in prior to his positive test. The latter theory has been linked to media reports of elevated plasticizer levels, but this has not been officially confirmed at this point. It remains to be seen if this is raised during the hearing, or if the positive test for Clenbuterol alone will be the only topic to be scrutinised.
CAS has also confirmed the arbitral Panel which will rule on of the appeals of the International Cycling Union (UCI) and of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The panel president is Efraim Barak (Israel), with the other two being Quentin Byrne-Sutton (Switzerland) and Ulrich Haas (Germany).
The appointments of the latter two were predicted earlier this month. El Pais expressed surprise at the time, pointing out that Haas – who has been chosen by Contador’s legal team – previously voted for a two year ban for his compatriot Alejandro Valverde.
Valverde had claimed that Haas was too closely linked to WADA, a protest that was overruled. “Either [Contador] is committing suicide or it is a brilliant manoeuvre," El País quoted a Spanish legal expert as saying.
The UCI/WADA choice of Byrne-Sutton was also surprising, in that the Swiss had voted against Valverde’s ban.
The UCI and WADA are appealing the decision of the Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC) to clear Contador of all charges. The rider is currently preparing for the Giro d’Italia.
Today’s confirmation of a likely June outcome is reassuring for the sport of cycling, as it will mean that a decision is reached prior to the start of this year’s Tour de France. Race organisers ASO, the UCI and others said on several occasions that they didn’t want the rider to start the race if there was still a question mark over his 2010 performance.