Legal regulation of determination of liability for anti-doping rules violation: determination of basic sanction

The main idea of sanctioning under WADA Code 2015 became simplicity and clarity. Sportsmen who made anti-doping rule violation intentionally or, in words of Code “who cheat” shall be punished more severely and less flexibly than those sportsmen who violated anti-doping rules unintentionally. Besides, in addition to this revision of the Code, which attracted the most attention, the changes were also aimed at creating conditions under which the procedure for establishing sanction should become fair and balanced, much more flexible, especially in cases involving unintentional violations. However, the practical realities of sanctioning in case of violation of anti-doping rules supplement this basic idea with many nuances. For example, CAS has developed an extensive practice in order to reduce the sanctions through application of no significant fault or negligence, existing in Code from year 2003. In this paper, the author analyzes the procedure for setting the basic sanction under the Code 2015 in light of the CAS practice of resolution of the relevant cases.