From Lausanne, SUI
(Jan. 16, 2019) – After years of back and forth between the Russian bobsleigh federation and the IBSF, the IBSF has suspended Alexander Kasjanov, Aleksander ZUbkov, Aleksei Pushkarev, and Ilvir Khuzin through December 2020. Further, all results from the 2014 Olympics through January 16, 2019 for any of the four athletes are automatically disqualified.
In a release from the IBSF on January 16, 2019, the IBSF stated that their Anti-DOping Hearing Panel (ADHP) had committed an anti-doping rule violation as it pertained to “use of a prohibited substance and prohibited method (ie. urine substitution).
Kasjanov, Khuzin, and Pushkarev’s suspensions begin retroactively to December 13, 2018 and will be lifted on December 12, 2020, while Zubkov’s will end six days later. The two year suspension is the maximum that can be given under the IBSF’s anti-doping rules for first-time violators.
The suspension for Zubkov means he will not be able to act in any official capacity, including his current role as the president of the Russian bobsleigh federation.
In the full decision, the IBSF sites Court for Arbitration for Sport (CAS) reasoned decision from July of 2018 in which CAS found that the athletes committed anti-doping rule violations applicable to the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi. The full IBSF decision can be found in the link below.
