In May 2019 the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) of the IAAF (now World Athletics) has reported an anti-doping rule violation against the Greek Athlete Ioannis Kyriazis after his A and B samples tested positive for the prohibited substance LGD-4033 in a low concentration. After notification a provisional suspension was ordered. The Athlete filed a statement in his defence and he was heard for the World Athletics Independent Tribunal.
The Athlete denied the intentional use of the substance and believed that a contaminated supplement had caused to positive test result but analysis in the Monreal Lab did no reveal any prohibited substances in the sealed and unsealed containers of the supplement provided by the Athlete. He argued that previously he was monthly tested by his university without issues and was still recovering from his injury in April 2019.
Hereafter the Athlete claimed that a past housemate, involved in bodybuilding, had admitted to him that he may have contaminated the Athlete with a substance that he was using. This was taken in capsule form from powder stored in a container kept in the shared accommodation. However this housemate was now unwilling to testify and denied taking prohibited substances.
Furthermore the Athlete asserted, supported by experts witnesses, that the Montreal Lab had reported a false positive because the metabolite was present lower that the limit of detection and below the limit of quantification. However the Montreal Lab rejected with corroborating evidence the assertions that the results were unreliable because the levels were too low, or that it was not possible that the Athlete voluntarily took the prohibited substance.
The Panel accepts the evidence of the Montreal Lab and finds that the results were reliable in accordance with the applicable WADA Technical document TD2015 IDCR. Accordingly the Panel is comfortable satisfied that the presence of a prohibited substance has been established and that the Athlete committed an anti-doping rule violation.
The Panel deems that the Athlete failed to produce cogent, credible and specific evidence to support innocent or negligent explanations. As a result the Athlete failed to establish that the violation was not intentional nor established how the prohibited substance entered his system.
Therefore the World Athletics Independent Tribunal decides on 10 March 2020 to impose a 4 year period of ineligibility on the Athlete starting on the date of the provisional suspension, i.e. on 31 may 2019.
