MINSK, 31 August (BelTA) – Belarus has lodged two appeals with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Belarus First Deputy Sport and Tourism Minister Alexander Gagiyev told media at BelTA press center on 30 August.
According to Alexander Gagiyev, the first appeal is related to the Rio ban on the Belarusian men's canoeing team. Belarus always held leading positions in this sport, and in Rio the Belarusian team could have won several medals. However, for no obvious reason the athletes who trained for the Olympic Games day and night were slapped with the ban right ahead of their departure to Rio de Janeiro. Alexander Gagiyev stressed that Belarus hopes for a fair verdict.
The other appeal is about the weightlifting team. The situation here is somewhat different. Prior to the Olympic Games in Rio it was announced that the Belarusian weightlifters could have faced a ban due to the positive doping retests from the two Olympic Games. This did not happen, however, and the decision on possible disqualification was postponed. It is expected that Belarus' appeal will be considered by the CAS in September-October. Alexander Gagiyev added that if the CAS rules to impose a one-year ban on the Belarusian weightlifting team, this will not be a serious problem. In the worst-case scenario the Belarusian weightlifters will have to miss out on just one or two large-scale international tournaments.
