CAS spokesman Matthieu Reeb stated that the decision on Alberto Contador’s case will not be biased
The Court of Arbitration for Sport clarified that the scheduled training camp by Team Saxo Bank in Israel will not influence Contador’s decision in any way.
CAS spokesman, Matthieu Reeb briefed sporten.dk, “Normally I would not comment on such allegations. But it's so sad that accusations against our authority, credibility, and one of our arbitration panel are made, that I will note that it is untrue speculation
without any basis in reality”.
He continued, “He is not for sale. We are quite confident about his independence, and if you review his resume, you will also notice that he neither has any connection to the world of cycling or the Israeli government”.
There are a total number of three judges on the panel, Quentin Byrne-Sutton of Switzerland, Ulrich Haas of Germany and the Israeli judge, Ephraim Barack. Being the president of the commission, Ephraim will issue the final verdict on the matter.
Barack was independently assigned to the case, Ulrich Haas was assigned by UCI and WADA whereas the Swiss judge Quentin Byrne-Sutton was chosen by the cyclist himself.
Alberto is undoubtedly the top stage race cyclist present in the sport today. He has participated in a total number of 8 world tour events and succeeded on six different occasions.
Contador holds two Giro d’ Italia, three Tour de France and one Vuelta a Espana final classifications victory under his belt.
He won the Tour de France in 2007, 2009 and 2010, along with a fifth place finish in the most recent edition of the race.
2011 was the only year when the cyclist participated in two grand tours. He won the Giro d’ Italia 2011 and still managed to finish amongst the top five at the French Tour.
The concerns were raised by RadioShack-Nissan-Trek owner Flavio Becca. He told Le Quotidien that an Israeli judge to issue the ruling on Alberto’s case and Saxo Bank setting up its training camp in Israel are two related facts.
He claimed that the Danish team is trying to change the fate of its rider and also believes that the jury has already made its decision.
Team Saxo Bank owner, Bjarne Riis has denied the allegations. He mentioned during an interview to ekstrabladet.dk that he is aware of the whole story and will only comment after the final ruling is made.
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