The International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has delayed ruling on the doping case of Hungarian swimmer Tamas Kenderesi has been changed for the third time.
The ruling was due on January 20, but Kenderesi only received word of the postponement on January 21. His original hearing took place virtually on September 18, 2024. The three member arbitration panel heard from Kenderesi, but requested additional documentation. Kenderesi’s team says that the documents were provided quickly and a November date was set before being delayed to 2025. Now, 4 months after the hearing, the panel still has not made a decision.
The panel includes James Drake of Great Britain, Péter Pákay of Hungary, and Ulrich Haas of Germany.
The ordeal began more than two years ago in 2022 when the results of a blood test were compared to previous tests in 2017 – part of a program known as a “blood passport” because it allows testers to detect deviations from an athlete’s natural hormone and other marker levels that could indicate artificial manipulation (doping).
Shortly thereafter, it was leaked that two Hungarian athletes had been accused of doping violations. Kenderesi admitted in April 2023 that he was one of the athletes; the other, Laura Vanda Ilyes, was later acquitted.
Kenderesi says that it was an administrative error that resulted in the blood passport being flagged as atypical. He still denies that he used any prohibited substance.
A hearing by the World Anti-Doping Agency that included three independent hematologists (who study blood). They were asked to prepare mathematical studies of the results, and they unanimously agreed that WADA had correctly rendered a violation. That is the decision that Kenderesi is currently appealing to the CAS.
Kenderesi, now 28, won a bronze medal in the 200 fly at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. That event has been responsible for all of his international medals, including a Youth Olympic Gold and European Junior Championships gold in 2014; European bronzes in 2016, 2017 (SC), and 2020; and a European silver in 2018.
He finished 4th in the same event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
The news comes as European authorities are discussing whether the CAS can legally have the final say on anti-doping matters.
Kind of absurd it’s taking so long – whether he’s guilty or innocent, he deserves at least a somewhat timely ruling