Related case:
AEPSAD 2015 AEPSAD vs respondent E19
August 17, 2015
In June 2013 the Spanish police arrested 4 people among them two elite level athletes in the police action operation Gym-Sin. After house searches in Alovera, Guadalajara and Madrid the police confiscated various prohibited substances, including anabolic steroids, EPO and growth hormone, provided from China and distributed among professional sportsmen in gyms across Madrid and Guadalajara.
After news reports in the national media about operation Gym-Sin the Spanish Agency for the Protection of Health in Sport (Agencia Española de Protección de la Salud en el Deporte, AEPSAD) reported an anti-doping rule violation against the respondent E19 for the possession and use of forbidden methods of S1 (Anabolic Agents); S2 (Peptide Hormones, Growth Factors); S5 (Diuretics and Other Masking Agents); and S6 (Stimulants) prohibited substances.
On 24 July 2015 the criminal prosecution of the respondent was suspended. On 17 August 2015 AEPSAD decided to impose a 4 year period of ineligibility on the respondent.
Hereafter in August 2015 the respondent appealed the AEPSAD decision with the Tribunal Administrativo del Deporte (TAD), the Spanish Disciplinary Committee for Sports.
Invoking ne bis in idem the respondent requested the Tribunal to set aside the AEPSAD decision of 17 August with the disciplinary proceedings due to the criminal proceedings against the responder were suspended. He denied the possession of prohibited substances and disputed the violation of his rights. In addition the respondent requested the retroactive application of more favourably legislation now in force.
The Tribunal concludes that AEPSAD is authorized to cooperate with the judicial branch and is authorized to continue disciplinary proceedings. The Tribunal finds that the evidence seized by the police are proof of possession of prohibited substances.
With the principle of lex mitior the Tribunal agrees that AEPSAD had to apply retroactively the new legislation Ley Orgánica 3/2013 and not Ley Orgánica 7/2006 for the imposition of the appropriate sanction on the respondent.
Therefore on 27 November 2015 the Tribunal partially accepts the repondent’s appeal and decides to impose a 2 year period of ineligibility on the respondent.
