With only days to go before the start of the Olympic hockey tournament in Beijing, the Azerbaijan Hockey Association and the country’s national Olympic committee have applied to the Court of Arbitration for Sport challenging the FIH Judicial Commission’s decision not to take any action against the two Spanish players who tested positive for banned substances at the Olympic Qualifiers in Baku, the capital of Azerbaikan, in April this year. If the Court decides in Azerbaijan’s favour it would result in the entire Spanish women’s team being disqualified from the Games, to be replaced by Azerbaijan, who were the runners-up in the qualifier.
The Azerbaijan authorities have reacted swiftly to a seemingly perverse decision by the FIH, who decided not to apply any sanctions against Spain’s Gloria Comerma (pictured) and another unnamed player. Both were tested positive but Comerma suffered no sanctions as it was found that “there was no negligence on her part”. The second player was cleared of any wrongdoing. This was set against a background of counter-allegations by Spain regarding the conduct of their hosts in Baku.
The FIH have dealt with this matter with an unusual degree of secrecy, with little information coming out from their headquarters in Lausanne. The news that the two Spanish players were being held blameless fuelled speculation that Spain’s allegations may have been upheld. The Azerbaijani company, ATA Holdings, are major sponsors of the FIH.
