Yay Spain!

Nice to see Spain doing their bit for the war on doping

The IOC's chucked India out of the Olympics because of the shenanigans of the Indian Olympics Association.

Spain, the country that treats its dopers as heroes, to get kicked out in the cold in the cycling world? Hell, why not

Meanwhile WADA suspend the Madrid testing lab for three months.

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1722 ... ree-months

Nothing to do with PEDs but I have to a total anti-Spanish bias in relation to sport not based on cycling but with my experiences kayak racing in Spain. The experience wasn't great... including...

Going round all the foreign teams accommodation in the early hours of the morning the night before races trying to wake you up and stop you getting any sleep.

Rearranging the rocks in the rapids the night before the race thereby negating the recce you had done previously.

Having paddlers entered with the only and specific purpose of ramming foreign crews and trying to push you into wrong lines on rapids and break your kayak up.

Cheating on take off in sprint relay races by a massive margin. Officials apologised but wouldn't disqualify their crews.

and more...

Since those days (even if they were a long time ago) I'm really cynical about their level of sportsmanship and fair play.

Dabber wrote:

Nothing to do with PEDs but I have to a total anti-Spanish bias in relation to sport not based on cycling but with my experiences kayak racing in Spain. The experience wasn't great... including...

Going round all the foreign teams accommodation in the early hours of the morning the night before races trying to wake you up and stop you getting any sleep.

Rearranging the rocks in the rapids the night before the race thereby negating the recce you had done previously.

Having paddlers entered with the only and specific purpose of ramming foreign crews and trying to push you into wrong lines on rapids and break your kayak up.

Cheating on take off in sprint relay races by a massive margin. Officials apologised but wouldn't disqualify their crews.

and more...

Since those days (even if they were a long time ago) I'm really cynical about their level of sportsmanship and fair play.

I'm afraid that I am the same regarding Spanish sport - and I wish it wasn't so. Just do not trust them at all. I really want to like Bertie; he does set races alight, and has that something, is it 'panache'?

Saying that, I'm still a fan of El Matador; Carlos Sainz, 2xWRC Champion.

If we accept that the testing protocols are there for a reason, to ensure that the tests are valid and performed without possible bias, then the Spanish court came to the correct decision.

The bit that is all wrong about this case is that it went to the Spanish court, rather than to CAS. I was under the impression that athletes accepted being bound to CAS as the highest adjudicator of sporting issues. If that's no more than a gentleman's agreement then we're in trouble.

sherer wrote:

No tA Doctor wrote:

If we accept that the testing protocols are there for a reason, to ensure that the tests are valid and performed without possible bias, then the Spanish court came to the correct decision.

The bit that is all wrong about this case is that it went to the Spanish court, rather than to CAS. I was under the impression that athletes accepted being bound to CAS as the highest adjudicator of sporting issues. If that's no more than a gentleman's agreement then we're in trouble.

Football and other sports have tried this too. As Bosman showed if he want to go through the courts rather than CAS then you can

Bosman's case wasn't a sporting case though, it was an employment case. CAS can't be used to determine whether sporting regulations comply with relevant national and international law.
Sheffield utd was more interesting, as they directly appealed their relegation to the high court ( where they lost, don't know the details) then managed to get an FA commission to arbitrate on compensation, before reaching a settlement outside the commission. The first step was the only one that challenged CAS jurisdiction .
The Armstrong case also threw up some interesting rulings. The court ruled that there was a clear arbitration process to follow under the jurisdiction of CAS, but noted that if Armstrong's rights to due process weren't upheld he could have recourse to the American courts. Again, essentially, if it's sporting it's CAS, if the ruling from CAS violates national law then he can challenge on that basis.

But what we're seeing in Spain is a case that should clearly be under CAS jurisdiction (was a result determination valid if the testing protocols that lead to the removal weren't followed) being adjudicated by a Spanish court.

I think it's possible that some party in this is in violation of IOC statutes.