Swimming: Cielo cleared
Cesar Cielo can defend his world titles after escaping suspension for a positive drugs test.
Last Updated: 22/07/11 12:52pm
Cesar Cielo will be able to defend his freestyle titles at the World Championships in Shanghai after the Court of Arbitration for Sport did not suspend him after a failed drugs test.
CAS did however reaffirm the warnings issued to the Brazilian after he and three of his compatriots tested positive for Furosemide.
Cielo, who won the 50metres and 100m freestyle at the last World Championships in Rome in 2009, was found with the banned substance in his system at the Maria Lenk Trophy in May.
However, the quartet of Cielo, Nicholas Santos, Henrique Barbosa and Vinicius Waked were only given a warning by their national federation despite the maximum punishment being a two-year ban.
Governing body FINA appealed to CAS for an urgent hearing to ensure the matter was resolved before the pool action in Shanghai gets under way on Sunday July 24.
However, Waked was handed a one-year suspension due to it being his second offence after he received a two-month ban last year.
Agreement
A CAS statement read: "With the agreement of all the parties concerned, the CAS conducted an expedited procedure and held a hearing in Shanghai on 20 July 2011 in the presence of the parties, their representatives and witnesses.
"The CAS panel composed of Alan Sullivan QC (Australia) President, Olivier Carrard (Switzerland) and Jeffrey Benz (USA) decided to dismiss the appeals filed by FINA against Cesar Cielo, Henrique Barbosa and Nicolas dos Santos and to confirm the CBDA's decision concerning them.
"The panel upheld the appeal by FINA against Vinicius Waked and sanctioned the athlete with a one-year suspension as a result of a second doping offence (Vinicus Waked was already sanctioned on 4 February 2010 with a two-month suspension following a positive test for a specified substance).
"For their defence, the athletes have argued that the source of the Furosemide was a contamination of a caffeine supplement that they were regularly using upon prescription.
"The CAS Panel will issue the full awards, with the grounds, in a few weeks."
Fellow sprinter Roland Schoeman, who claimed three medals at the 2004 Olympics including gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay, criticised the decision on his Twitter account.
The South African wrote: "FINA and the CAS have done a great disservice to the world of swimming & set a dangerous precedent."
