The law has been thoroughly tested and is quite clear in this area and has come out against lifetime bans.
I thought the case was that a lifetime ban, as put forward by the IOC, was not possible unless it was agreed by WADA, so if WADA change policy a lifetime ban could be implemented, therfore the actual concept of a lifetime ban has not been ruled out just the current mechanism for enforcing one was found to be incorrect – I may be mistaken though;
“The CAS ruling states: “The IOC executive board’s June 27, 2008 decision prohibiting athletes who have been suspended for more than six months for an anti-doping rule violation from participating in the next Olympic Games following the expiration of their suspension is invalid and unenforceable.”
The CAS ruling stated that the IOC’s only way of bringing in such a sanction was to have it agreed as part of the World Anti-Doping Code, to avoid claims of ‘double jeopardy’. There appears to be little possibility of that happening however.”