Related case:
CAS 2019_A_6110 Liam Cameron vs UKAD
December 30, 2019
In May 2018 the United Kingdom Anti-Doping (UKAD) has reported an anti-doping rule violation against the boxer Liam Cameron after his sample tested positive for the prohibited substance Cocaine. After notification a provisional suspension was ordered. The Athlete filed a statement in his defence and he was heard for the National Anti-Doping Panel.
The Athlete accepted the test result and denied that he knowlingly had used Cocaine either recreationally or otherwise. He testified that inadvertently Cocaine came into his system through handling a large amount of banknotes which he was in possession of having been selling tickets for the fight. He asserted that these bank notes are always contaminated with Cocaine and this contamination of his hands via bank notes and surfaces happened at various neighbourhoods where drug use is rife. Due to he is a habitual nail-biter this resulted in the transfer and oral ingestion of Cocaine into his system.
The London Lab reported that the concentration of Cocaine found in the Athlete’s sample was too high and unlikely to be the result of bank notes contamination because scientific studies showed that the concentrations of Cocaine found on bank notes are far too low as source of the positive test.
UKAD dismissed the Athlete’s explanation, pointed to inconsistenties in the Athlete’s statemens and contended that he failed to establish how the prohibited substance entered his system.
In addition UKAD sought the admission of the Athlete’s 2017 sample as evidence that also showed the presence of Cocaine, although the concentration was below the threshold and accordingly the sample was reported negative. UKAD argued that this 2017 sample showed that the Athlete previously had used Cocaine for either recreational or sporting purposes.
The Panel rejected UKAD’s argument regarding the Athlete’s 2017 sample and holds that it would not be admitted as evidence in the proceedings because this sample was not reported as an Adverse Anlytical Finding.
The Panel deems that the Athlete was not a credible or convincing witness and finds that his explanation as to the ingestion of Cocaine was purely speculative. Accordingly the Panel concludes that the Athlete failed to establish that the violation was not intentional nor demonstrated on the balance of probabilities how the prohibited substance entered his system.
Therefore the National Anti-Doping Panel decides on 19 December 2018 to impose a 4 year period of ineligibility on the Athlete starting on the date of the provisional suspension, i.e. on 25 May 2018.
