LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) β The Court of Arbitration for Sport says the legal challenge in Germany over five-time Olympic speedskating champion Claudia Pechstein’s doping case endangers the entire international arbitration system.
CAS issued its first statement Friday addressing the decision of a Munich appeals court in January to allow Pechstein to go ahead with a lawsuit seeking damages from the International Skating Union.
The Munich ruling went against CAS, which had supported a two-year ban imposed on Pechstein in 2009 despite her denials of doping. The CAS ruling was upheld twice by the Swiss Federal Tribunal.
CAS says “the fact that state courts would reopen cases involving their national athletes endangers the international effectiveness and the harmony of the decisions rendered in disciplinary matters related to sport.”
