Kaisa Varis given lifetime ban by International Biathlon Union

Decision unaffected by fact that previous offence came in another discipline

print this

The International Biathlon Union (IBU) has unanimously agreed to impose a lifetime ban from the sport on Finnish biathlete Kaisa Varis. The IBU governing body decided on the matter on Monday evening at a meeting held in conjunction with the World Championships in Östersund, Sweden.
      In early January, Varis tested positive for doping for the second time. Elevated levels of the blood booster erythropoietin, or EPO, were found in both A and B samples.
      On a previous occasion Kaisa Varis was found guilty of doping in 2003, when she gave a positive sample at the FIS Nordic Skiing World Championships in Val di Fiemme.
     
After a one-and-a-half-hour meeting, the IBU board decided on the 32-year-old Finn’s fate. According to the IBU regulations, an individual’s first offence results in a two-year ban, which - according to some speculations - could have offered Varis a loophole to avoid the lifetime ban.
      In 2003 Varis tested positive for a banned substance - again EPO - as a cross-country skier, not as a biathlete. The IBU justified its decision by saying that according to the rulebook, a second doping violation results in a lifetime ban. This clause does not require that both offences have been committed under IBU jurisdiction.
      "The decision was unanimous. Our (IBU) and Wada’s view is that this was Varis’s second doping offence, regardless of the fact that the offences took place in two different disciplines", IBU chairman Anders Besseberg told the Norwegian news agency NTB.
     
Varis can still try to appeal, first through the IBU’s own appeal process and then via the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). On the national level, the Varis case will be handled at the earliest on Monday next week, when the Finnish Biathlon Association holds its board meeting.
      "We will see if the Varis affair is on the agenda then", said executive director Janne Hakala of the Finnish Biathlon Association.
      Last week Hakala estimated that the Association’s claim for compensation from Varis will be in the region of EUR 100,000. On Monday Hakala was more cautious when talking about money.
      "The matter will be agreed privately. No automatic payout machinery exists for cases like this", Hakala emphasised.
     
Varis gave the doping sample that led to her second time of testing positive on January 6th in Oberhof, Germany.
      In the competition that day, Varis came in 20th, but was still asked to give a sample as she was under special surveillance by the IBU.
      Just like in 2003, after the news of the positive test Varis again issued a short statement saying that she was innocent and then vanished from the public eye as if swallowed by the earth. Even at the IBU hearing last week Varis took care of matters by sending in a written statement.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finnish cross-country skier tests positive at Val di Fiemme; STT names athlete as Kaisa Varis (7.3.2003)
  Varis´s name goes into the doping book a second time (1.2.2008)
  Kaisa Varis B-sample also positive (UPDATED 16:30) (31.1.2008)
  Biathlete Kaisa Varis suspected of doping violation (24.1.2008)

Helsingin Sanomat