As suggested the other day by Valverde’s lawyer after the first day of the hearing; the Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS) is unable to extend Alejandro Valverde’s Italian ban to be enforced worldwide. The hearing this week was an appeal by Valverde against the two-year ban preventing the Spaniard from racing on Italian soil.
Due to the fact the appeal was lodged by the cyclist, the trial only covers his two-year ban by the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) ban, meaning no further sanctions could be introduced at this particular hearing
“The Panel considered that the requests filed by UCI and WADA to suspend Alejandro Valverde world-wide for a period of two years could not be entertained by the CAS given that they were outside the scope of the present arbitration procedure,” CAS said in a statement.
However, this does not mean that a global ban for Valverde out of the question. He will still have to defend himself at his hearing in March with CAS, where the UCI and WADA will challenge the Spanish Cycling Federation’s non-action with respect to the Cassie d’Epargne rider.