CAS upholds the appeal of Nikita Khakimov

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has upheld the appeal filed by the Russian badminton player Nikita Khakimov against the Badminton World Federation (BWF) in relation to the decision rendered by the BWF Hearing Panel on 18 November 2020 (the Challenged Decision) in which he was found have committed violations of the BWF Code of Conduct relating to betting and match-fixing and sanctioned with a five-year suspension from badminton-related activities.

The Challenged Decision has been set aside and Nikita Khakimov is eligible to participate in badminton related-activities with immediate effect.

In December 2020, Nikita Khakimov filed an appeal against the Challenged Decision at the CAS. The procedure was referred to a Panel of arbitrators who held a hearing with the parties on 15 April 2021 by video-conference.

After having carefully considered all of the evidence produced and the submissions made by the parties, the CAS Panel found, in contrast to the Challenged Decision, that there was insufficient evidence to prove that the alleged misconduct had occurred, and therefore, due to the lack of concrete evidence, Nikita Khakimov should not be sanctioned.