MOSCOW, February 2. /TASS/. The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) is likely to ask the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to keep the reasons behind the judgment in the case of figure skater Kamila Valieva confidential, RUSADA’s press office told TASS on Friday.

"RUSADA respects athletes’ rights and in this case we resorted to all possible means to protect confidential information regarding our client," Russia’s anti-doping agency said in a statement.

"We have received the reasoning behind the [CAS] decision and our lawyers are already examining," the statement reads. "It is very likely that we will ask CAS to keep confidential this decision’s reasoning section."

Earlier in the day, the Lausanne-based court announced in a statement to TASS that it planned to publish the reasoning behind its decision in the doping case of Valieva pending the consent of all parties involved.

According to the Swiss sports court’s statement: "The Arbitral Award issued by the CAS Panel is currently subject to a confidentiality review meaning that the parties might request that the Arbitral Award, or certain information contained in it, remain confidential."

The parties in question are Kamila Valieva, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) and the International Skating Union (ISU).

On January 29, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled to disqualify Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva for four years for violating anti-doping rules starting on December 25, 2021. "All competitive results of Ms. Valieva from December 25, 2021 are disqualified, with all the resulting consequences," the CAS press service said in a statement.

The International Skating Union (ISU) decided on January 30 to strip Russia of its gold medal at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing in the team figure skating event by taking away some of the team’s previously earned points and subsequently awarding it the bronze medal.

The world’s governing skating body ruled on January 30 to hold back 20 out of 74 points earned by Russian figure skaters in the team event after Valieva’s suspension, thereby putting Russia in 3rd place with 54 points, Team USA in 1st place (65 points) and Japan in second (63 points).

Valieva’s doping case

On February 14, 2022, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) turned down an appeal filed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Skating Union (ISU) against the decision of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) to lift a temporary suspension of Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva.

The International Testing Agency announced on February 11, 2022, that Valieva’s doping sample, collected on December 25, 2021 during the Russian Figure Skating Championships in St. Petersburg, returned a positive result for a banned substance, trimetazidine. This triggered the postponement of the awards ceremony for the 2022 Olympic team competition, won by Russia.

RUSADA imposed a provisional suspension on Valieva on February 8, 2022, but the Russian athlete submitted an appeal and it was granted the following day. The previous decision on the provisional suspension was voided by the RUSADA Disciplinary Committee.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Skating Union (ISU) filed appeals against this decision but the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected them on February 14, 2022. The Russian skater was permitted to compete in the individual Olympic competition and finished fourth.