Athletics: CAS confirms Salazar appeal against four-year ban

[November 12, 2019]  LAUSANNE, Switzerland (Reuters) - American Alberto Salazar, who has coached some of the world's top distance runners, has appealed against his four-year ban for doping violations, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said on Monday.

Salazar was given a four-year ban by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) on Sept. 30 for "orchestrating and facilitating prohibited doping conduct" as head coach of the Nike Oregon Project (NOP), a camp designed primarily to develop U.S. endurance athletes.

CAS said in a statement that it had registered an appeal from Salazar and endocrinologist Jeffrey Brown, who also worked on the NOP project and was banned for four years. Both have denied wrongdoing.

The Swiss-based tribunal said that "parties have requested additional time to file their written submissions and evidence."

"At this stage, it appears that the hearings in these two matters are unlikely to take place before March 2020," said CAS.

CAS routinely takes several weeks to reach its verdict after a hearing has taken place.

Coach Alberto Salazar stands in front of Galen Rupp of the U.S.A. in the Bird's Nest Stadium at the Wold Athletics Championships in Beijing, China, August 21, 2015. REUTERS/Phil Noble

Nike has previously said it would support Salazar's appeal. The sportswear giant has since shut down the NOP, saying the decision was made "to allow the athletes to focus on their training and competition needs."

Britain's multiple Olympic and world champion Mo Farah, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing, is among the athletes who have been coached by Salazar.

(Writing by Brian Homewood; Editing by Alex Richardson and Pritha Sarkar)

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