BWF STATEMENT ON RECENT INTEGRITY DECISIONS

CAS VERDICT AGAINST MAURITIUS BADMINTON PLAYER KATE JESSICA FOO KUNE

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has upheld the appeal of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) against the decision of the BWF Doping Hearing Panel in its ruling on Mauritius badminton player Kate Jessica Foo Kune.

In November 2019, the independent BWF Doping Hearing Panel determined that Ms. Kate Jessica Foo Kune committed an anti-doping rule violation resulting in the disqualification of the results of the tournament, but concluded that the player bore no fault or negligence and decided not to impose any period of ineligibility.

Foo Kune was found to have breached the BWF Anti-Doping Regulations at the All-African Championships 2019. She asserted that she had been the victim of deliberate spiking of her water by an ill-intentioned individual during the event in question.

While BWF recognised the Doping Hearing Panel’s thorough and careful work, the BWF decided to appeal the decision before CAS as it touched upon the interpretation of fundamental principles of the World Anti-Doping Code and the Anti-Doping Regulations.

CAS handed down their verdict on Tuesday citing that while they accept the breach was unintentional, Foo Kune failed to establish on the balance of probabilities how the prohibited substance entered her body, thus concluding that a plea of "no (significant) fault" was not admissible, and sanctioned her with a period of ineligibility of two years, commencing on 15 December 2020.

BWF accepts the ruling of CAS. The reasoned decision will be published by CAS early in 2021 and BWF will publish this when available.

RUSSIAN PLAYER NIKITA KHAKIMOV SUSPENDED FOR FIVE YEARS

The BWF Independent Hearing Panel has suspended Mr. Nikita Khakimov from all badminton-related activity for a period of five years.

The panel found Khakimov to be in breach of the BWF Integrity Regulations (Code of Conduct 2017) including approaching a player and offering money to manipulate a match at the European Teams Championship, betting on badminton matches, failing to properly cooperate with an investigation, and deliberately destroying evidence of a corruption offence to conceal it from the BWF.

Khakimov was mostly active in European international competitions and national leagues as a doubles player.

The athlete has the right to appeal the case to CAS.

Click here for the reasoned decision.

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