Related case:
SAIDS 2017_19 SAIDS vs Ntando Kebe - Appeal
March 24, 2018
In July 2016 the South African Institute for Drugfree Sport (SAIDS) has reported an anti-doping rule violation against the rugby player Ntando Kebe after his sample tested positive for the prohibited substance Stanozolol. After notification the Athlete filed a statement in his defence and he was heard for the SAIDS Anti-Doping Hearing Panel.
SAIDS requested the Panel to impose a 4 year period of ineligibility and contended that the Athlete failed to show that he had not been negligent nor that the violation was not intentional.
The Athlete admitted the violation, denied the intentional use, accepted the test result and the provisional suspension. He acknowledged that he didn’t mention all his supplements on the Doping Control Form and he failed to research his supplements before using. He claimed that the supplement Ripped EFX was the source of the positive test, provided by a former rugby player Monde Hadebe - confirmed by a witness - while he was unaware that this player was sanctioned for the use of Stanozol.
The Panel considers that the Athlete undertook a series of tests in order to find the source of Stanozolol and that there was the witness confirmation that the sanctioned player Monde Hadebe gave the container Ripped EFX to the Athlete. Here the Panel deems that the Athlete’s submissions and evidence go beyond speculation and that they are not merely firm denials. The Panel finds that the Athlete appears to offer a credible explanation as to how the prohibited substance entered his system.
Accordingly the Panel is willing to accept, on alle the evidence, that in these unusual circumstances the probable source of the Stanozolol was the Ripped EFX supplement. The Panel holds that it has been established on balance of probabilities that the Athlete did not intend to cheat and that the ingestion of Stanozolol was not intentional. Considering the Athlete’s conduct in this case and his degree of Fault the Panel concludes that there are no grounds for No Significant Fault or Negligence.
Therefore the SAIDS Anti-Doping Hearing Panel decides on 13 October 2017 to impose a 2 year period of ineligibility on the Athlete starting on the date of the provisional suspension, i.e. on 7 July 2016.
