On Friday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport acquitted Japanese runner Koki Ikeda, who won silver in the race walk at the Tokyo Olympics, of charges of violating anti-doping rules, after accepting his appeal against the International Association of Athletics Federations, paving the way for his immediate return to competition.
Ikeda (28 years old) was temporarily suspended in November 2024, before the Athletics Integrity Unit imposed a four-year suspension on him in February 2025, on charges of using or attempting to use a prohibited method to improve performance.
The Japanese athlete appealed the decision before the Court of Arbitration for Sport in March 2025, denying the accusations against him, which were based on abnormal indicators in the athlete's biological passport that led the International Association of Athletics Federations to suspect fraud.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport heard the case in Lausanne, Switzerland, last May.
Although the court acknowledged that there were some unusual readings in Ikeda's biological profile, it considered that these results could be explained by legitimate reasons not related to doping.
The court explained that the athlete supported his defense with medical evidence and expert testimony with great evidentiary power, which provided a broader and more convincing scientific basis than the evidence on which previous procedures were based.
Accordingly, the Appeals Body overturned the four-year ban, concluding that the violation of anti-doping rules had not been sufficiently proven, meaning that there was no justification for imposing any penalty on the Japanese athlete.
With this decision, Ikeda is eligible to return to competition immediately.
Jorge Muslera, the Argentine goalkeeper of Estudiantes, saved three penalty kicks to lead his team to reach the final of the Libertadores Football Cup at the expense of the Brazilian Flamengo (the defending champion), on Thursday evening local time, Friday morning GMT, in the second leg before the final of the continental competition.
After the two-legged matches ended in a goalless draw, the veteran Uruguayan goalkeeper (40 years old), who participated in five editions of the World Cup, saved the penalty kicks taken by Jorginho, Lucas Paqueta and Bruno Henrique, giving the Argentine team a 3-2 victory on penalties.
Estudiantes, which completed the match with 10 players since the 50th minute after its player Baltazar Rodriguez was sent off, will face the Brazilian team Palmeiras in the final match, which will be held at the Centenario Stadium in Uruguay on November 28.
The Argentine club seeks to put an end to the dominance of Brazilian clubs in the most important and powerful club championship in South America, which has continued for 7 consecutive years.
The last non-Brazilian club to win the title was Argentina's River Plate in 2018.
Estudiantes is looking forward to achieving its fifth title in the Copa Libertadores, and its first since 2009, against Palmeiras, which won the title twice in a row in 2020 and 2021.
The Argentine team's victory is a huge surprise, as the market value of the Estudiantes list is just over $61 million, compared to the Flamengo list, which is one of the most expensive South American club lists, with a value of about $236 million.
The eldest daughter of Argentine football legend, Diego Maradona, made an emotional appeal for justice, as the trial sessions related to her father’s death approached, as judgments are expected to be issued next December.
Dalma Maradona (39 years old) said before the judges in a court in the city of San Isidro, north of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires: “All I ask of you is to achieve justice for my father.”
Dalma and her sister Giannina are participating in the trial proceedings as plaintiffs in the case.
“I listened to many people talking about how difficult their lives have been since the start of this trial,” she added, with tears in her eyes. I tell these people that they have the opportunity to stay with their families; Unfortunately, this is no longer available to my father.”
Maradona died after suffering a heart attack on November 25, 2020, at the age of 60, inside a private residential complex, noting that the star who won the World Cup in 1986 had undergone brain surgery a few weeks before his death.
A number of Maradona's doctors and nurses are on trial, on charges related to serious failures and errors that caused his death.
The prosecution and the family's lawyers are calling for long prison sentences to be imposed on some of the defendants, while the defense team is demanding acquittal.
Judge Alberto Gage announced that the rulings will be issued on December 22, after a comprehensive review of the case. He said at the conclusion of the sessions: “Now the task and responsibility of making a decision falls upon us.”
The judge was clearly affected as he described the pressures imposed on the court by this prominent case, as he stopped speaking several times during his speech.
