The Australian Olympic Committee has lost an appeal to disqualify the Brazilian four-man bobsleigh team from the Winter Olympics, after one of their athletes returned a positive drug test.

“We are disappointed, but believe we received a fair hearing from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS),” AOC Secretary-General Craig Phillips said tonight (19 February).

Lawyers for the AOC argued before the CAS in Torino that the Brazilian four-man bobsleigh team qualified for the Games with a “drug tainted” athlete as part of their crew.

The CAS heard that Arnando dos Santos tested positive to the steroid Nandralone after an out-of-competition test on January 3rd 2006. He later competed in a World Cup event and the Challenge Cup in Germany where Brazil won and qualified for the Olympics.

New Zealand was second and Australia third in that event. The first two nations qualified for the Torino Games.

The AOC’s lawyer Aldo Frignani recommended to the panel that Brazil be replaced in the Olympic competition by the Australian crew.

 In today’s hearing the International Bobsleigh Federation (FIBT) argued there was no provision in their rules to “bump up” another team should Brazil be disqualified.

The Brazilian Olympic Committee told the CAS that dos Santos had been sent home from Torino and that the A sample confirmed a positive test, but the results of the B sample were not available.

They argued that dos Santos had not yet appeared before his national federation to argue his case and to disqualify the four-man team now was a denial of natural justice.

The CAS will release the reasons for its decision on Monday 20 February (Torino time).

AOC