International bobsleigh body bans Zubkov for two years

The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) has suspended two-time Olympic gold medal winner Alexander Zubkov for two years for doping code violations at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, the sport's governing body announced Wednesday. "The ADHP (Anti-Doping Hearing Panel) came to the conclusion that ... Mr. Alexander Zubkov ... committed an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) for the use of a Prohibited Substance and the Use of a Prohibited Method (i.e. urine substitution)," the IBSF said in a statement. The body said that retired Zubkov, who was stripped of his Sochi golds for doping by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2017 and is now president of the Russian Bobsleigh Federation, will be suspended until December 18, 2020. He is also banned from administrative activities such as serving as an "official, director, officer, employee, or volunteer of the national organizations" the statement continued. Zubkov's teammates Aleksander Kasjanov, Ilvir Khuzin and Aleksei Pushkarev were also suspended by IBSF. The athletes can appeal on this decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Russia's Olympic Committee (ROC) said they will ask Zubkov to leave his federation post "immediately." Zubkov meanwhile told RIA-Novosti agency he will "study the documents" of the case before making a decision about his appeal. In November Moscow's highest civil court agreed with Zubkov that the CAS' decision to uphold the IOC's ruling was "unfair", and rejected the ROC's appeal earlier this month. That court ruling means Zubkov is still recognised as an Olympic champion in Russia, which complicates the IOC's mission of retrieving the 44-year-old's gold medals.