The Court of Arbitration for Sport says the US coach and former distance runner must sit out suspension for breaking anti-doping rules
Alberto Salazar’s attempts to clear his name have failed after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld his four-year suspension.
The 63-year-old, who won the New York City and Boston marathons in the 1980s before becoming a leading coach, was originally banned two years ago for a number of anti-doping violations. He appealed against the decision but after a virtual hearing that lasted for a week in March, CAS has now upheld the ban.
Salazar ran the Nike Oregon Project (NOP) in the United States and coached, among others, Galen Rupp, Mo Farah and Sifan Hassan although there is no suggestion any of these athletes broke anti-doping rules and Farah left the NOP in 2017.
Salazar’s downfall began in 2015 when an investigation by BBC and ProPublic based on whistleblowers from the NOP such as assistant coach Steve Magness and US distance runner Kara Goucher led to the coach being formally investigated by the US Anti-Doping Agency.
Jeffrey Brown, who worked as a consultant endocrinologist for Nike on performance enhancement and served as a physician for Salazar’s athletes, has also now lost his appeal against a four-year ban.
CAS ruled Salazar guilty of three offences – possession of testosterone, complicity in Brown’s administration of a prohibited method and tampering with the doping control process.
The full report by CAS is due to be publishing in coming days.
READ MORE: Alberto Salazar given four-year ban
In other doping news, CJ Ujah’s B sample from the Tokyo Olympics has returned as positive which means the British 4x100m team who won silver at the Games is almost certain to be stripped of their medals.
Ujah tested positive for banned substances Ostarine and S-23 but has protested his innocence.