CAS Case Digest · Verified against the full award text

CAS 2024/A/11026 — Kiril Minchev Todorov v. World Aquatics

"Todorov" · CAS upheld a two-year ineligibility imposed on the Mexican Swimming Federation president for deliberately breaching his provisional suspension.

What happened in Todorov

Kiril Minchev Todorov, President of the Mexican Swimming Federation (FMN) since 2009, was provisionally suspended by the Aquatics Integrity Unit (AQIU) of World Aquatics on 6 April 2023, pending investigation into alleged corruption, disrepute, and concealed remuneration charges. Despite that suspension, Todorov co-signed an FMN letter to Mexican state governors on 7 September 2024. After AQIU warned him on 19 September 2024 that this conduct violated his suspension, he signed a second FMN letter on 1 October 2024 explicitly identifying himself as 'President Mexican Swimming Federation.' On 29 October 2024, the AQIU Adjudicatory Body found him in breach of Article 33.8 of the World Aquatics Integrity Code and imposed a two-year period of ineligibility commencing that date. Todorov appealed to CAS, arguing the original provisional suspension was illegal, that Mexican law obliged him to act as president, and that the sanction was disproportionate. The CAS Panel dismissed the appeal, confirming the two-year ban. The case matters because it firmly establishes that the validity of a provisional suspension cannot be collaterally attacked in proceedings limited to a breach-of-suspension charge, and that intentional, repeated defiance of a provisional suspension — without remorse — justifies a substantial period of ineligibility.

Procedural history of CAS 2024/A/11026

On 6 April 2023, AQIU charged Todorov with multiple integrity violations and simultaneously imposed a provisional suspension under Article 21 of the World Aquatics Integrity Code. No appeal was filed against that suspension, making it final and binding. After Todorov signed FMN letters in September and October 2024 in his presidential capacity, AQIU's Adjudicatory Body on 29 October 2024 found him in breach of Article 33.8 of the World Aquatics Integrity Code and imposed a two-year period of ineligibility from that date. On 18 November 2024, Todorov filed a Statement of Appeal with CAS under Article R48 of the CAS Code, also requesting provisional measures (stay of execution and removal of information from World Aquatics' website). Both provisional-measure requests were denied by Panel Order on 11 April 2025. World Aquatics filed its Answer on 14 March 2025. A videoconference hearing was held on 12 June 2025. The Panel issued its final Award on 6 July 2026, dismissing the appeal in its entirety.

Key holdings in CAS 2024/A/11026

• The scope of an appeal against a breach-of-suspension decision is limited to whether the provisional suspension was violated and what sanction is appropriate; the validity of the underlying provisional suspension cannot be re-litigated in those proceedings.
• An athlete or official who fails to appeal a provisional suspension allows it to become final and binding, and cannot subsequently ignore it on the basis that it was allegedly unlawful.
• Signing official federation correspondence in one's capacity as president of a member federation while provisionally suspended constitutes a clear infringement of Article 33.8 of the World Aquatics Integrity Code.
• A CAS panel exercises full de novo review of proportionality but, as a matter of respect for internal disciplinary bodies, should not lightly tinker with a well-reasoned sanction unless it is evidently and grossly disproportionate.
• Intentional and repeated breach of a provisional suspension, combined with lack of remorse and negative impact on the integrity of sport, are significant aggravating factors justifying a two-year period of ineligibility.

How the CAS panel reasoned

The Panel first narrowed the scope of the appeal to the single question decided by the AQIU Adjudicatory Body: whether Todorov breached Article 33.8 of the World Aquatics Integrity Code. It rejected all arguments concerning the legality of the provisional suspension, the Stabilization Committee, and Mexican criminal proceedings as outside that scope, noting Todorov had never appealed the 6 April 2023 provisional suspension. On the merits, the Panel found all three elements of an Article 33.8 violation satisfied: Todorov was a 'Covered Person' as president of a World Aquatics member; he was unambiguously provisionally suspended; and he signed FMN letters in his presidential capacity. His Mexican-law-obligation defence was dismissed as unsubstantiated and unconvincing. On proportionality, the Panel conducted an ex officio de novo review despite Todorov's contradictory and unsubstantiated submissions. It identified three aggravating factors: intentionality (the second letter was sent after an explicit AQIU warning), repetition of the breach, and lack of remorse. It found no mitigating circumstances. Applying the 'evidently and grossly disproportionate' standard drawn from CAS 2009/A/1870 — correctly interpreted via CAS 2022/A/8695 as not restricting full de novo review — the Panel concluded the two-year ban was reasonable and fair.

Why Todorov matters in CAS jurisprudence

Todorov establishes that a provisional suspension that is not appealed becomes final and binding, foreclosing any collateral challenge to its validity in subsequent breach-of-suspension proceedings. It also clarifies that CAS panels retain full de novo proportionality review even where an appellant fails to substantiate a disproportionality argument, and confirms that intentional, repeated defiance of a provisional suspension — without remorse — constitutes a serious integrity violation warranting a multi-year ban under the World Aquatics Integrity Code.

Cases cited in this award

CAS 2009/A/1870 CAS 2022/A/8695 CAS 2022/A/9053 CAS 2019/A/6665 CAS 2019/A/6326 CAS 2017/A/5086

Frequently asked questions about Todorov

Why couldn't Todorov argue that his original provisional suspension was illegal in the CAS appeal?

The CAS Panel held that the scope of the appeal was strictly limited to the Appealed Decision of 29 October 2024, which concerned only whether Todorov breached his provisional suspension. Because Todorov never filed an appeal against the 6 April 2023 provisional suspension letter, that suspension became final and binding. The Panel therefore dismissed all arguments about the legality of the original suspension as outside the scope of the present proceedings.

What conduct did Todorov engage in that was found to breach his provisional suspension?

Todorov co-signed an FMN letter to Mexican state governors on 7 September 2024 and, after being warned by AQIU on 19 September 2024 that this violated his suspension, signed a second FMN letter on 1 October 2024 explicitly identifying himself as 'President Mexican Swimming Federation.' The Panel found that signing official federation correspondence in his presidential capacity while provisionally suspended was a clear infringement of Article 33.8 of the World Aquatics Integrity Code.

Was the two-year ban considered proportionate, and what aggravating factors did the Panel identify?

The Panel confirmed the two-year period of ineligibility as reasonable and fair. It identified three aggravating factors: intentionality (the second letter was sent after an explicit AQIU warning, making deliberate disregard clear), repetition of the breach (two separate letters), and lack of remorse (Todorov persistently maintained he had done nothing wrong). No mitigating circumstances were found, and the Panel concluded the sanction was not evidently and grossly disproportionate.

Did Todorov's argument that Mexican law obliged him to act as FMN president succeed before CAS?

No. The Panel dismissed this defence as unsubstantiated and unconvincing, finding no indication or evidence that the letters were sent to discharge any specific legal obligation under Mexican law. The Panel also noted that, in any event, what was relevant in the proceedings was the violation of World Aquatics rules, not the content of Mexican domestic law.

Topics: Doping, ethics & governance at CAS

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