Related case:
- SAIDS 2018_07 Retshidisitswe Mlenga vs SAIDS - Appeal
January 23, 2020
- IAAF 2018 IAAF vs Reneilwe Aphane
May 2, 2019
In May 2018 the South African Institute for Drugfree Sport (SAIDS) has reported an anti-doping rule violation against the Athlete Retshidisitswe Mlenga after his A and B samples tested positive for the prohibited substance Stanozolol. After notification a provisional suspension was ordered. The Athlete filed a statement in his defence and he was heard for the SAIDS Anti-Doping Tribunal Panel.
The Athlete denied the intentional use, he could not explain how the substance entered his system and analysis of his supplement did not contain prohibited substances. He testified that during the competition in question he felt sick and had used a drink recommended by his Coach Aphane. He stated that he felt better after he used a vitamin supplement from another athlete. Later he stated that his Coach Aphane may have provided him a substance while he was unaware that it was a prohibited substance.
The Panel considers that the Athlete failed to explain how the prohibited substance entered his system, he provided contradictory evidence and he appeared to be an unreliable witness.
The Athlete left his first coach and tested positive when he trained with Coach Aphane before he switched to a new coach. Coach Aphane also had tested positive around the same period as the Athlete and the Athlete was not forthright in the reason why he had switched from Coach Aphane to his current coach. Further the Athlete changed his attorney twice during the proceedings.
In this case there was a departure of the ISTI when the Ghent Lab established that the bottle of the Athlete's A sample was closed but not sealed. The bottle of the B sample was indeed sealed and only opened hereafter when the Athlete requested the analysis of the B sample.
Because WADA was aware that the used new BEREG-KIT Geneva bottles were recalled for safety reasons it had rendered instructions. In accordance with these WADA instructions the Ghent Lab reported this matter in ADAMS and to SAIDS, it did not split the B-sample and kept the B sample bottle sealed until further instructions. In addition the Doping Control Officers testified that the Athlete's sample bottles were duly closed and sealed without issues during the sample collection procedure.
The Panel established that there was indeed a departure of the ISTI regarding the bottle of the A sample but no material departure from the ISTI by SAIDS. There were some errors in the Chain of Custody but the Panel deemed that these errors could not have effected the validity of the test results. The Athlete failed to provide any evidence regarding a departure of the ISTI.
Therefore the SAIDS Anti-Doping Tribunal Panel decides on 1 July 2019 to impose a 4 year period of ineligibility on the Athlete, starting on the date of the provisional suspension, i.e. on 15 May 2018.
