Sport Integrity Australia has appealed the two-year ban handed to Australian swimmer, Shayna Jack.
SIA’s chief executive David Sharpe said in a statement the “decision to appeal is based on the need for clarity in the application of key anti-doping legal principles”.
“Sport Integrity Australia will always act to ensure a level playing field for athletes,” Mr Sharpe said.
“In order to protect athletes and sporting competitions, we must have clarity and consistency in the application of the World Anti-Doping Code.”
Last month, the Court of Arbitration for Sport banned Jack for two years for taking the banned drug Ligandrol.
In a statement, the CAS said on the balance of probabilities, “Shayna Jack did not intentionally ingest Ligandrol and considered that she had discharged her onus of proving that the anti-doping rule violation was not intentional”.
The SIA appeal means that Jack’s initial four-year ban could be reinstated.
As it stands, she is free to resume swimming next July, but that will be too late to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
Other organisations including Swimming Australia, the World Anti-Doping Authority (WADA) and swimming’s world governing body, FINA, could also still appeal the CAS decision.
The ABC contacted Swimming Australia, but they had no comment on the decision to appeal.
