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WADA, Sport Integrity Australia appeal swimmer Shayna Jack’s two-year ban for taking Ligandrol

Swimmer Shayna Jack's two-year doping ban is being appealed by Sport Integrity Australia.

Swimmer Shayna Jack's two-year doping ban is being appealed by Sport Integrity Australia. Photo: AAP

Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) and the World Ant-Doping Agency (WADA) have appealed the length of the two-year ban handed to Australian swimmer Shayna Jack.

Jack tested positive to the banned drug Ligandrol before the 2019 world championships and the SIA provisionally suspended the Commonwealth Games gold medallist for four years in March.

Last month, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) reduced that suspension to two years.

SIA chief executive David Sharpe said in a statement the “decision to appeal is based on the need for clarity in the application of key anti-doping legal principles”.

“Sport Integrity Australia will always act to ensure a level playing field for athletes,” Mr Sharpe said.

“In order to protect athletes and sporting competitions, we must have clarity and consistency in the application of the World Anti-Doping Code.”

Hours after SIA’s appeal was announced, WADA revealed it also lodged an appeal with the CAS over what they perceived as a lenient suspension.

When handing down its ruling, the CAS said on the balance of probabilities, “Shayna Jack did not intentionally ingest Ligandrol and considered that she had discharged her onus of proving that the anti-doping rule violation was not intentional”.

The appeals means that Jack’s initial four-year ban could be reinstated.

As it stands, she is free to resume swimming next July, but that will be too late to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

Other organisations including Swimming Australia and swimming’s world governing body, FINA, could also still appeal the CAS decision.

The ABC contacted Swimming Australia, but they had no comment on the decision to appeal.

-ABC

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