The Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS) will hear Italian Davide Rebellin’s appeal in his doping case on June 17th in Lausanne, Switzerland. Last November the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that Rebellin would have to return his Beijing Olympic road race silver medal following his positive doping test for Cera, the third generation of EPO.
The IOC statement said that the “Olympic Disciplinary Commission, consisting of Thomas Bach (as president), Gerhard Heiberg and Frank Fredericks (members), revoked the medal won by Davide Rebellin in the cycling road race in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.” Rebellin will also lose the accompanying diploma that was given to him as an Olympic medal winner.
The IOC also contacted the UCI (International Cycling Federation) to “change the results in the mentioned event, as the rules allow it and to consider subsequent actions that are in its competency.” The Changes meant that Swiss Fabian Cancellara went from a bronze to a silver medal and Russian Aleksandr Kolobnev recieved the bronze.
Rebellin has since returned the medal and the €75,000 prize he received in Beijing, but has always maintained his innocence saying last year: “I’ve never taken Cera. One of the strange things is that there are seven samples attributed to me. How can that be when I have only had three doping tests?”