The CAS Upholds the UCI Biological Passport

Just when you thought Angelo Zomegnan was fast asleep, he has resurfaced with another round of controversial statements relating to his total commitment to protecting the sanctity of the sacred Giro d' Italia from the ever present scourge of doping. Angelo Zomegnan has informed the world that the current system of punishment in doping cases is insufficient to deal with the offenses and he recommends the world adopt an "additional quarantine" or an additional period of time for an athlete to return to normal health, the same way cyclists who have suspicious biological values above the normal range are suspended for health reasons, until the values return to normal. Who can argue with that sort of logic?

This is old news, but the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) has confirmed the notion that doping violations can be confirmed using longitudinal biological values, without a direct confirmed positive test for a prohibited substance, Pietro Caucchioli and Franco Pellizotti were suspended for two years. The Pietro Caucchioli CAS award is included here for students who are interested in how the CAS justifies their actions, even though it is in French, because these awards suddenly vanish into the ether, never to be seen again. The Franco Pellizotti CAS award was impossible to find even after an active search of the Internet. There merely exists a carefully orchestrated CAS press release stating that Pietro Caucchioli and Franco Pellizotti were suspended, without providing the awards. What seems to be the problem in examining CAS awards in cotroversial high profile cases where the public has an invested interest in knowing what the CAS is up to?

This once again is a reflection of the arrogant attitude that exists among the anti-doping crusade, this lack of access to important ground breaking awards. All CAS awards should be a matter of public record, indexed, archived, and available though a standard Internet data base at a click of a button. CAS awards should be available in both French and English for perusal. The era of the vanishing CAS award should cease.

Never mind the platitudes of WADA and the UCI. The glowing approval of the Pietro Caucchioli and Franco Pellizotti CAS awards can be found in unlimited press releases. The reversal of the Fanco Pellizotti Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) exoneration, which stated that although some suspicious blood values did exist: this did not establish guilt, therefore warranted no suspension, was in fact, overturned by the CAS. The legal reasoning for this reversal, the justification of the UCI biological passport as a legal bases for guilt without a positive test for a probhibited drug, is explained in the award, and to understand what legal logic and medical justifications the CAS used to arrive at this conclusion, the award must be read.