Me Jean-Marc Reymond and Me Delphine Deschenaux-Rochat successfully defended before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) a number of elite athletes against their international federation. The federation had imposed a one-year ban following a raid during their training camp in France, on the grounds that some anti-doping controls appeared positive. The whole men’s team was thus deprived from participating in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
The CAS considered that no team member had committed an anti-doping rule violation. In addition, the sanction imposed was premature because there was no previous decision of the competent authorities on the alleged anti-doping rule violations of the individual athletes. Finally, the expedited procedure applied by the international federation only allowed for the suspension of officials of the federation, not of the athletes.
The decision taken by the international federation was set aside and the suspension was not only lifted but fully cancelled.
