In January 2020 the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) of World Athletics has reported an anti-doping rule violation against the Kenyan Athlete Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich for his 3 Whereabouts Filing Failure and 2 Missed Tests in a 12 month period.
The AIU also charged the Athlete for Tampering through providing deliberately misleading information and evidence to the AIU in his explanation for the Missed Tests on 12 April 2019 and 17 May 2019 in an attempt to obstruct or delay the investigation into those Missed Tests and/of to revent normal procedures from occurring.
After notification a provisional suspension was ordered. The Athlete filed a statement in his defence and he was heard for the Disciplinary Tribunal.
The Athlete admitted that he was not available for testing on 28 April 2018 and explained that on his way home in Kenya there was a heavy land slide due to heavy rains which forced him to take another route to his home. Due to bad weather conditions he had no phone signal and unable to change his Whereabouts information.
Regarding the Missed test on 12 April 2019 the Athlete stated that he arrived late at his home but within the 60-minute time slot. It took a while before he could produce a sample. Since the DCO was called back to Nairobi and could not wait any longer the DCO returned on 15 April 2019.
The Athlete acknowledged that he failed to be available for testing on 17 May 2019 resulting in a Missed Test. He explained that a large traffic jam caused by a serious road traffic accident prevented him to return to his home for his 60 minute time slot.
Finally he argued that the AIU made several procedural errors which harmed several principles of a due process which should lead to the conclusion that the case is inadmissible.
Based on the rainfall data of the Kenyan Ministery the AIU contended that on 28 April 2018 there had been no heavy rainfaill but only moderate rainfall. There was also no evidence of a landslide on that day as stated by the Athlete.
Regarding the missed test on 17 May 2019 the AIU argued that the Athlete did not arrive within the 60-minute whereabouts slot. Instead the Athlete produced a false statement, documents and evidence regarding an alleged road traffic accident on 17 May 2019 while in fact this occurred on 19 August 2019 and was not a traffic accident but a large traffic jam.
The Sole Arbitrator considered the Athlete’s arguments about the procedural errors and finds that there were no deviations from the applicable rules nor that the Athlete hasn’t got a fair trial.
The Sole Arbitrator concludes that the Athlete has not established that no negligent behavior on his part caused or contributed to his failure not to update his Whereabouts information as soon as possible after the circumstances changed. This resulted in 4 Missed Test and/or Filing Failures.
In addition the Sole Arbitrator finds that the evidence convincingly shows that the Athlete not only lied during the proceedings but also produced false evidence about the alleged traffic accident on 17 May 2019. The Sole Arbitrator deems that the Athlete’s Anti-Doping Rule Violations shall be treated together as one single violation and the sanction shall be based on that which carries the more severe sanction.
Therefore the Disciplinary Tribunal decides on 24 June 2020 to impose a 4 year period of ineligibility on the Athlete starting on the date of the provisional suspension, i.e. on 10 January 2020. This including disqualification of his results from 12 April 2019, a contribution to the costs and rejection of the Athlete's claim for damages and lost income.
