By Flinster Austin
Published on 2024-01-11 05:46:03
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has scheduled January 19, 2024, as the date for the hearing regarding the appeal filed by World Athletics through the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) challenging the initial decision of the disciplinary tribunal in the case of World Athletics Vs Nigeria and World Record holder in the 100m hurdles, Tobi Amusan.
The AIU filed its appeal on September 15, 2023, and WADA followed suit two days later, both seeking to impose a ban on Amusan for alleged whereabouts failures in 2023. Amusan was provisionally suspended by the AIU in July 2023 and was issued a notice of charge for an anti-doping rule violation. At that time, the AIU announced on Twitter that the charge would be addressed by the Disciplinary Tribunal and resolved prior to the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
The three-man disciplinary tribunal cleared Amusan of two out of the three whereabouts failures, resulting in the AIU lifting the provisional suspension and clearing her to compete at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary last August. Although Amusan was emotionally distraught and unable to effectively defend her 100m hurdles world title, she later demonstrated her exceptional abilities at the Diamond League final in Oregon, USA, successfully defending her title by defeating the reigning Olympic champion, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, and the reigning world champion, Danielle Williams.
Amusan has repeatedly stated that she is a clean athlete and has been regularly tested by the AIU. She now faces the challenge of proving this once again at CAS.
It is important to note that CAS hearings are not open to the public and may be conducted in-person, by videoconference, or in a mixed format. The outcome of the appeal will ultimately have a significant impact on Amusan’s career and reputation as a world-class athlete.
