Related case:
UKAD 2020 Mark Jones vs UKAD - Appeal
December 24, 2020
In August 2019 United Kingdom Anti-Doping (UKAD) has reported an anti-doping rule violation against the amateur rugby player Mark Jones after his sample tested positive as an atypical finding for the prohibited substance Clenbuterol in a very low concentration.
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, admitted the violation and denied the intentional use of the substance. At first he requested to lift the provisional suspension and later he requested to be credited for serving this provisional suspenion due to the substantial delays in the process attributed to UKAD.
The Athlete argued that there were grounds for a reduced 2 year sanction based on his prompt admission and No Significant Fault or Negligence. He alleged that meat contamination had caused the positive test due to his ingestion of cheap Australian / Chinese meat he had purchased in bulk at a market in Cardiff and consumed in the months hereafter.
UKAD deemed that there were no grounds that the Athlete had provided a prompt admission since there was only a timely admission. Further it contended that the Athlete failed to explain how the substance had entered his system nor did he produce any corroborating evidence in support of his meat contamination allegation.
The Panel holds that there were no substantial delays in this case and agrees that the Athlete only provided a timely admission. Consequently it was prepared to start the period of ineligibility on the date of the sample collection which also credits the Athlete for the time already served during his provisional suspension.
The Panel concludes that there are no grounds for a reduced sanction since the Athlete failed to establish how the prohibited substance had entered his system nor did he provide corroborating evidence in support of his allegations.
Therefore the National Anti-Doping Panel decides on 7 February 2020 to impose a 4 year period of ineligibility on the Athlete starting on the date of the sample collection, i.e. on 25 April 2019.
