Winter Olympic bid for Ukraines Heraskevych rejected by court

Ukraine’s Vladyslav Heraskevich Sees Appeal Dismissed by CAS

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed an appeal by Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevich, who was disqualified from the Milano Cortina Olympics due to images on his helmet. The 27-year-old athlete had been removed from the Olympic program after the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation jury ruled that the imagery on his helmet breached rules on political neutrality.

Heraskevich had sought reinstatement or a CAS-supervised run, pending a decision by sport’s highest court in advance of the final two runs set for Friday evening. However, CAS has found that freedom of expression is guaranteed at the Olympic Games but not on the field of play, which it considers a “sacred principle”.

In an eight-hour hearing, CAS Secretary-General Matthieu Reeb stated that the organization had dismissed Heraskevich’s application and found that the athlete would need to wear a black armband during competition. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had offered Heraskevich the option of wearing a black armband and displaying his helmet before and after the race, but deemed using the helmet in competition as breaching its rules on political protests and slogans.

The IOC guidelines for athletes’ expression in the Games were considered reasonable and proportionate by CAS. The organization stated that these guidelines provide a balance between athletes’ interests to express their views and athletes’ interests to receive undivided attention for their sporting performance on the field of play.

Ukraine’s Olympic Committee has backed Heraskevich, who is also the team’s flagbearer for the Games. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has expressed support for the athlete as well. The CAS was established in 1984 by the IOC as an independent judicial authority to settle sports disputes worldwide.

Heraskevich had previously accused the Milano-Cortina Games of acting as “propaganda” for Russia, but his appeal has been dismissed.

Source: Al Jazeera