COV supports TAD decision to return points, prizes and Olympic quota to judoka Elvismar Rodríguez
Photo: Social Network X
Published at: 23/07/2024 10:58 AM
The Board of Directors of the Venezuelan Olympic Committee (COV) supports the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to restore all her won rights to the judoka Elvismar Rodríguez and return her Olympic quota.
In a statement, the COV urges the International Judo Federation to return the points, prizes and any achievement that has been suppressed to the athlete.
Full text of the press release:
After learning by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on July 16, that the appeal made by the athlete Elvismar Rodríguez was accepted and that it refuted the decision issued on June 26 of the current year by the International Judo Federation and its agent of the International Testing Association (ITA) in the case of non-submission to three random tests.
And where, amply, the athlete and her lawyer were able to demonstrate that for many years Rodríguez has been an athlete who has never used any substance and for justifiable and proven reasons she could not be in the three mentioned tests; however, Elvismar has had the courage to face extra sporting factors, which indicate that it is the whim of a single person whose reason for the cruelty towards the athlete is unknown at such an important moment in the race for any individual, who has cleanly earned his place in the greatest sporting event on the planet, such as the Olympic Games .
In accepting the appeal, the CAS made it clear to the International Judo Federation that it must restore to Elvismar its rights gained through these Olympics and its quota be restored.
Communications have been sent directly from the CAS to the International Judo Federation. In turn, the CAS informed the National Judo Federation that it will refund the points, prizes and any achievement that has been suppressed from the athlete since June 26 of this year.
On July 16, after hearing the decision, which allows the athlete to consider that her rights were taken away in a fleeting way before allowing her to continue with her legitimate defense process, such as the appeal stage and that we know that even the final decision is yet to be verified in a new panel in the future, Elvismar has been denied participation in Paris 2024.
The most serious and sad thing about this decision is the psychological, physical and mental damage that Elvismar Rodríguez is going through and that it will not be possible to heal him in any way. An athlete who gave his soul to achieve his Olympic quota cleanly, who sacrificed himself in every training session to achieve the necessary points in his competitions to reach the ticket to Paris 2024.
A damage to the integrity of someone who has given his life to sports with charisma, effort, passion but above all, honesty. Regardless of what happens in the final decision of Elvismar's case in the CAS in its next stage.
We know that nothing and no one can tarnish what Elvismar represents for our country, for Venezuelan and world judo. For her family, friends and the entire judoka community who at one time enjoyed seeing her on the mat.
Today, we repeat, a great injustice is being committed, regardless of the fact that tomorrow they tell us otherwise, to one of the greatest exponents of Venezuelan women.
We are and will be with you Elvismar, under any circumstance. We respect, value and love you. May this strengthen you as a person, as a woman and in the face of life now, with more discipline, love and respect for what you have achieved.
We reserve appropriate action to demonstrate the validity of our athlete's argument. The motivation doesn't just lie in the impossibility of competing in Paris 2024. We will go to the necessary instances.
Mazo News Team