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This article originally appeared here

In the aftermath of German speed skater Claudia Pechstein’s two year ban for blood doping, Head of UNI World Athletes, Brendan Schwab questioned the role of the World Anti-Doping Agency and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in doping cases. Schwab argued that these organisations have been set up by and are controlled by international sporting bodies, without any form of input from athletes or the associations representing them.

In an interview on Australian news programme, Radio National Breakfast, Schwab said, “Claudia Pechstein is a woman of immense courage and principle. It’s very difficult for an athlete who has a short-term and somewhat precarious career to try to take on a massive international organization such as WADA or CAS.”

“She maintains that she did not dope. The evidence seems very strongly to support that, and we just do not have any trust or confidence that the federations are well-positioned to impose ethical policies and get good outcomes for the sport.”

Pechstein’s case is supported by UNI World Athletes, which claims that organisations such as CAS or WADA do not provide athletes with a fair structure or legal process.

“One of the guiding principles of UNI World Athletes is that a party to international arbitration should have an equal say in the appointment of the arbitrators, but CAS is controlled by the international sporting federations, as is WADA,” Schwab argued.

“There is a global consensus among the player associations the policies such as anti-doping, that deal with dispute resolution, should be the subject of a genuine agreement between the athletes and the sports,” said Schwab.

This article originally appeared here.

To listen to the full interview with Brendan Schwab, please click here.

UNI World Athletes is a World Player’s association that represents 85,000 athletes through major player associations including FIFPro (the world footballers’ association), the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations, the International Rugby Players’ Association, EU Athletes, the National Football League Players Association, the National Hockey League Players Association, the Japanese Professional Baseball Players Association and the Australian Athletes’ Alliance.