The CAS has been asked to determine the validity of IOC Rule 45, which bars any athlete receiving a doping sanction of greater than six months from competing at the next Olympic Games.

The rule, adopted in 2008, has been criticised as creating a second penalty for athletes who have served their doping suspension.

The IOC has maintained the rule is not a sanction but an issue of eligibility and that it has the right to put conditions on participation in the Olympics.

"In the interest of ensuring that all eligible athletes are able to compete in their respective Olympic qualification process, and to establish a degree of certainty as we head toward the Olympic Games in London, the USOC and the IOC have agreed to place the question of the regulation before the CAS," USOC chief executive Scott Blackmun said.

IOC Director General Christophe De Kepper said a ruling by CAS would erase any confusion ahead of next year's Olympics.

"This arbitration will provide certainty in the lead up to the 2012 London Olympic Games," he said.

The USOC and IOC want the rule clarified by CAS now to avoid a backlog of legal cases in the weeks ahead of next year's London Games.

Although the USOC is the petitioner in the case, the arbitration procedure will be conducted so that the CAS ruling will be widely accepted, the IOC and USOC said in a joint statement.


If the USOC is successful then it could open the door for an athlete like sprinter Dwain Chambers (pictured) to challenge the British Olympic Association's by-law 25 which prevents any athlete with a doping ban from representing Team GB at the Olympics.

Merritt received a 21-month suspension after testing positive in 2009 and 2010 for a banned substance he claimed was found in a male enhancement product.

His ban ends in July but under the IOC rule he would be ineligible to compete in London.

A US panel of arbitrators who suspended Merritt said the rule could not be used to prevent him from competing at London 2012.

Merritt also hopes to defend his World Championship title later this year in Daegu, South Korea, but will need a change in US policy to do so.

Current eligibility standards for the American team require an athlete to participate in the World Championship trials but Merritt's ban will not expire before the June trials.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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