The Lausanne, Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed an appeal filed by the Jamaican sprinter Nesta Carter against the decision issued on Jan. 25, 2017 by the International Olympic Committee Disciplinary Panel (IOC DP) in which he was found to have committed an anti-doping rule violation during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
Accordingly, CAS said last Thursday that the IOC DP decision to disqualify Nesta Carter and the Jamaican men’s 4x100m relay team from the race held at the Beijing Games in which they achieved the gold medal is confirmed.
CAS said that, on Aug. 22, 2008, Carter participated in the men’s 4x100m relay final at the Beijing Games together with teammates Michael Frater, Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell.
A urine sample provided by Carter after the race was analyzed at the time by the National Anti-Doping Laboratory in Beijing, with negative results, CAS said. In 2016, the court said urine samples from the Beijing Games were retested and the sample provided by Carter was found to contain methylhexaneamine (MHA).
On Jan. 25, 2017, the IOC DP found that Nesta Carter had committed an anti-doping rule violation, disqualified Carter and the Jamaican men’s 4x100m relay team and ordered the return of their medals and diplomas, according to CAS. In February 2017, it said, Carter filed an appeal seeking to have the IOC DP decision overturned.
CAS said the arbitration procedure was conducted by a CAS Panel, comprising Ken Lalo (Israel), president; Prof. Philippe Sands QC (United Kingdom) and Prof. Massimo Coccia (Italy).
The panel held a hearing in the presence of the parties in November 2017 at the CAS headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, CAS said.
At the conclusion of the hearing, CAS said the panel authorized the parties to file post-hearing briefs.
On receipt of such submissions, CAS said the panel “deliberated on the evidence put forward both at the hearing and in the parties’ written submissions before preparing its Arbitral Award.
“The panel concluded that the re-analysis of Nesta Carter’s sample collected following the race at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games confirmed the presence of methylhexaneamine (MHA) and that it could not accept any of the arguments raised by Nesta Carter contending that the test results should be ignored or the IOC DP decision should otherwise be overturned for certain alleged failures,” CAS said.
CAS said the panel noted that the case was “strictly limited to the consequences related to the Beijing Games and issues linked with fault or negligence are not relevant since sanctions such as ineligibility or disqualification from other events were not at stake here.”
Accordingly, CAS said the panel “dismissed the appeal,” adding that the decision issued on Jan. 25, 2017 by the IOC DP is “confirmed.”
