CAS denies prejudice in Contador case

The Court of Arbitraiton for Sport has denied that Israeli judge Ephraim Barak will be influenced in his decision in the Alberto Contador case by the fact that Team Saxo Bank held its training camp in Israel last month.  RadioShack-Nissan team owner Flavio Becca had indicated that the Israeli connection would lead to a acquittal for Contador.

“An Israeli judge will issue a ruling on Contador, and Saxo Bank is doing its training camp in Israel, even being officially received by the government. There are two facts that can not be separated. At this point, I think everything is already decided,"Becca said last week to Le Quotidien.

“Normally I would not comment on such allegations. But it's so sad that accusations against our authority, credibility, and one of our arbitration panel are made, that I will note that it is untrue speculation without any basis in reality” CAS spokesman Matthieu Reeb told sporten.dk

“He is not for sale. We are quite confident about his independence, and if you review his resume, you will also notice that he neither has any connection to the world of cycling or the Israeli government.”

Barack is the president of the three-man commission on the Contador hearings, and the only one independently assigned to the case. The other judges are Ulrich Hass, of Germany, chosen by the  UCI and WADA, and Quentin Byrne-Sutton from Switzerland, selected by Contador.

Saxo Bank team owner Bjarne Riis declined to comment on the issue. “I have read the story, but out of respect for the proceedings, I have no comment until we have received a decision,” he said to ekstrabladet.dk