Vanessa Mae's four year ban from competitive skiing has been overturned ©Getty Images

Vanessa Mae's four year ban from competitive skiing has been lifted following a ruling today by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), although she has failed to have her retrospective disqualification from last year's Winter Olympics in Sochi overturned.

Mae, the world famous violinist who competed for Thailand in the Russian resort under her father's surname, Vanakorn, finishing 67th and last in the giant slalom event.

It was subsequently claimed that she competed in four qualifying races in the Slovenian resort of Krvavcu that were fixed in order to qualify for the Games.

The International Ski Federation (FIS) ruled that she helped "manipulate" races, awarding her a four-year ban and stripping her of her Sochi 2014 result last November.

They claimed the races were organised at the request of Mae’s management company and the Thailand Olympic Committee to enable her to meet the Sochi qualifying criteria, with the Slovenian Ski Association subsequently suspending five of its officials.

Vanessa Mae's retrospective disqualification from Sochi 2014 will not be overturned ©Getty Images
Vanessa Mae's retrospective disqualification from Sochi 2014 will not be overturned ©Getty Images

Following a lengthy appeal, CAS have cleared the 36-year-old of breaching the FIS betting and other anti-corruption violations rules, but upheld the governing body's decision to dismiss the result of the races in question, leaving her ineligible to compete in Sochi.

A statement ruled: "In its decision, the CAS Panel accepted the position of the FIS that a number of irregularities had occurred in the organisation and management of the four races in question...

"But could not find, to its comfortable satisfaction, evidence of any manipulation by Vanessa Vanakorn herself that justified the guilty finding and the imposition of a four-year ban.

“Accordingly, the decision of the FIS Hearing Panel in relation to Ms Vanakorn is annulled and her four-year ban is lifted.”

The ruling means that, if she wishes, Mae will be able to attempt to qualify for Pyeongchang 2018.



Related stories
March 2015: Vanessa Mae's appeal against four-year ban being heard by Court of Arbitration for Sport
December 2014: Vanessa Mae appeals to CAS following four-year skiing ban
November 2014: Vanessa Mae dismisses four year ban for race-fixing as "nonsense"
November 2014: Mike Rowbottom: Pulled strings for Vanessa Mae – and hovering handcuffs for Germany's doping offenders
November 2014: Vanessa Mae banned from Alpine skiing for four years over race fixing allegations