Court of Arbitration for Sport finalizes Alberto Contador panel, decision expected before Tour

The Court of Arbitration for Sport has finalized the three-member panel that will consider the fate of Spanish rider Alberto Contador in his upcoming hearing.

The Associated Press reported that CAS has selected Israeli lawyer Efraim Barak as chair of the panel. Under arbitration rules, each protagonist is allowed to nominate one member of the panel. Contador’s legal team selected Germany’s Ulrich Haas while the UCI and WADA chose Quentin Bryne-Sutton of Switzerland.

The three arbitrators will consider the evidence in the long-running doping case and is expected to make a decision before the start of the 2011 Tour de France.

Contador tested positive for traces of the banned muscle-builder clenbuterol during a rest-day control en route to winning last year’s Tour. He claims that the substance entered his system after eating contaminated steaks brought into France from nearby Spain.

Contador was cleared to return to racing in mid-February after the Spanish cycling federation ruled in his favor and is preparing to race the Giro d’Italia, which begins May 7 in Torino.

WADA and UCI both appealed the ruling. CAS officials have promised a decision before the July 2 start of the 2011 Tour.

“The pleadings in this case are expected to be submitted before the end of May and the CAS envisages to hold a hearing in June 2011, which would allow the settlement of the dispute before the end of June 2011,” a CAS statement issued on Wednesday noted. “The hearing date will be published once it has been fixed.”

FILED UNDER: News TAGS: Alberto Contador / CAS / doping