German speed skater Claudia Pechstein will get "financial backing" from the world footballers' union as she tries to "win damages after a doping ban," according to the BBC. The five-time Olympic champion has "no connection to football," but FIFPro said that her case "highlighted its own concerns" about the Court of Arbitration (CAS). Pechstein, 43, was banned for two years in '09 over "irregular blood results, but she never failed a drugs test." CAS rejected her appeal against the Int'l Skating Union's ban (BBC, 7/14). REUTERS' Brian Homewood reported the CAS was previously criticized by FIFPro in March. The union said in a statement on Tuesday, "FIFPro expresses its moral, political and financial support
for ... Claudia Pechstein, who is leading a legal battle ... to defend her
innocence and her right to a fair and impartial legal procedure since
2009." FIFPro added that "Pechstein's fight for her own rights can positively
impact those of thousands of professional athletes around the world,"
among them the 65,000 footballers represented by FIFPro. A Munich court said in January that it would "allow
Pechstein to go ahead with a lawsuit" demanding more than $4.37M in damages over lost earnings. FIFPro: "Every athlete as a citizen and worker has the right to a
fair process and to be judged in an independent and impartial court" (REUTERS, 7/14). The AP reported FIFPro and Pechstein "claim the structure of the sport's highest court is biased against athletes in favor of governing bodies." CAS Secretary General Matthieu Reeb responded with "disbelief" at FIFPro after its "recent cooperation to include more independent arbitrators in the court's work" (AP, 7/14).
