BOA Expects CAS Defeat

The British Olympic Association is reportedly expecting to be defeated in the court battle to keep their lifetime ban for drugs cheats.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will deliver a ruling next week after the BOA challenged the World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) for declaring the ban "non-compliant".

The BOA has so far been given no indication from the court, but senior BOA officials are apparently prepared for the ruling to fall on the side of WADA.

If that decision does come to fruition, it would mean that the likes of sprinter Dwain Chambers and cyclist David Millar will be eligible for selection at London 2012.

However, BOA communications director Darryl Seibel has said that there had been no indication at all from CAS.

Seibel said: "We have not received the decision from CAS although we expect it will be next week, and neither have we received any indication from CAS as to what the decision might be."

British IOC member Sir Craig Reedie said in January that he believed it was likely that CAS would overturn the lifetime ban.

Reedie, who sits on the boards of both the BOA and WADA, was at the original meeting of the BOA in 1991 when the lifetime ban was passed and spent many years defending the ban while BOA chairman.

But he stated that as the IOC's similar ban known as Osaka rule had already been overturned, the CAS were unlikely to divert from that position.

Reedie said in January: "The BOA rule is different to the Osaka rule in that it has an appeal process but my feeling is that the same CAS panel as ruled on the IOC is unlikely to change its mind.

"If it is not accepted by CAS and it is regarded as a sanction, then the BOA rules could well be used in the future as a basis for writing a change to the WADA code.

"Morally, the BOA hold the high ground, and if you set the Olympics as a slightly special sporting event many people would agree with that."

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