Claimant, the United States Anti-Doping Agency ("USADA"), has alleged that Respondent, Dr. Geert Leinders, committed a number of doping offenses in violation of the Union Cycliste Internationale Anti-Doping Rules ("UCI ADR"), the World Anti-Doping Code ("WADC"), and the USADA Protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing ("USADA Protocol"). Those alleged doping offenses include possession of prohibited substances and/or methods; trafficking of prohibited substances and/or methods; administration and/or attempted administration of prohibited substances and/or methods; and assisting, encouraging, aiding, abetting, covering up and other complicity involving anti-doping rule violations, USADA also asserts that the alleged doping offenses involve aggravating circumstances justifying a lifetime period of ineligibility.
For the reasons described in this award, the Panel has determined that, based on the evidence presented to it and the arguments and submissions of counsel, USADA has met its burden of proof and established to the Panel's comfortable satisfaction that Dr. Leinders committed each of the alleged doping offenses within the applicable statute of limitations.
For the reasons described more fully below, the Panel imposes a lifetime period of ineligibility as the sanction for Dr. Leinders' doping offences.
The Arbitrators therefore rule as follows:
1.) USADA has sustained its burden of proving to the Panel's comfortable satisfaction that Dr. Leinders committed the following doping offenses on or after June 22,2004:
possession of prohibited substances and/or methods; trafficking of prohibited substances and/or methods; administration and/or attempted administration of prohibited substances and/or
methods; and assisting, encouraging, aiding, abetting, covering up and other complicity involving anti-doping rule violations.
2.) The Panel imposes a lifetime period of ineligibility, commencing on the date of this Award.
