Facts
The International Chess Federation (FIDE) charged Shaun Press, the player, for a violation of the Anti-Doping Rules. On October 28, 2004, during the Chess Olympiad in Calvia, Mallorca the player refused a doping test.

History
On October 30, 2004, there was a hearing of the FIDE Doping Hearing Panel. The statement of the player Shaun Press was the following. He confessed that he refused to submit to the doping control. The written statement of doctor Eduardo Ribot is not correct. When the doctor asked him to submit to the doping control, he asked to the doctor if there was any evidence that he had used forbidden substances. When the doctor said no, he refused because he can not be obliged to produce evidence against himself. He did not know the possible sanctions at that moment. In the meeting of team captains on october 15, 2004, before the first round the chief arbiter told that there would be doping controls in the last week of the tournament, but he did not say anything about the possible sanctions and he did not say that there were new anti-doping regulations that were different from the regulations that were accepted in Bled in 2002. When a team captain asked a question to the Chief Arbiter about the anti-doping regulations, the Chief Arbiter did not answer the question. Neither at any other moment had been told to the team captains or the players that there were new anti-doping regulations. FIDE did not inform the federations that there were new anti-doping regulations. During the Olympiad in Bled in 2002 there were refusals and nobody had been sanctioned. He presented a written statement by Stuart Fancy, in the last 15 month president of the Papua New Guinea Chess Federation, that he is not informed during that time by FIDE of any anti-doping regulations and that he has not been asked to check on any website of such regulations. He also presented a written statement of zone president Gary Bekker that he was not be made aware of the new anti-doping regulations prior to the 36th Olympiad. Further he was not all the time accompanied by a doping official in the hour between the refusal of the original test and the second visit to the doping room; so if he would have wished to take the test, then it would have been void. That is contrary to the anti-doping regulations. From the doping control form it is not clear which authorities are responsible for the doping controls. It was not known what would happen with the samples after the control. In the forms there was no information about the regulations of procedure. In Australia chess is not a sport. He has a FIDE-rating. He did not play any FIDE rated event between the Olympiad in Bled in 2002 and the Olympiad in Mallorca in 2004. He is an amateur player.
The panel considers: the refusal to submit to the doping control is a violation. The fact that the player was not accompanied by a doping official in the hour between his first visit and the second visit to the doping control and a test might be void, is not a good reason for a refusal. The new doping rules where available on the website www.fide.com. It is not assumable that the player was not able to get this information. The refusal of submitting a sample means that the player is considered to be positive tested. However, the Panel has discovered that the FIDE Anti-Doping Regulations are not well known in a part of the federations in FIDE. Further, Shaun Press is an amateur player who came on his own cost to the Olympiad. The FIDE Anti-Doping Regulations are in the first place meant for the professional players of whom there are many in chess. For these reasons a majority of three members of the Panel judges that next to the cancelling of the points gathered during the Olympiad, there is no place for an exclusion, but only a warning should be given.

Decision
1. The sanction is a warning.
2. The points obtained at the Chess Olympiad are cancelled.

Norandrosterone and noretiocholanolone concentration before and after submaximal standardized exercise / B. de Geus, F. Delbeke, R. Meeusen, P. Van Eenoo, K. De Meirleir, B. Busschaert. - (International Jurnal of Sports Medicine 25 (2004) 7; p. 528-543)

• PMID: 15459834
• DOI: 10.1055/s-2004-820954

Abstract

19-Norandrosterone (19-NA) and 19-noretiocholanolone (19-NE) are the two main urinary indicators used to detect illegal use of nandrolone. Recent studies showed that 19-NA and 19-NE can be endogenously produced in non-treated humans. The concentrations were close to the threshold of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), i.e. 2 ng/ml for men and seem to increase after prolonged intense effort. Androgens are involved in the biosynthesis of estrogens and estrogen has a protective effect against skeletal muscle damage following eccentric exercise. Furthermore, the testicular tissue can synthesize 19-norandrogens from androgens, we hypothetisize that the 19-norandrogen production might be influenced by muscle damage following eccentric exercise. Therefore the purpose of this study is to examine if three different exercise methods will influence the urinary concentration of 19-NA and 19-NE in healthy young subjects. Fifteen amateur hockey players undertook a 30 min submaximal standardized exercise protocol. They were randomised for three different types of exercise, namely a cycle ergometer test (cyclic muscle activity), a treadmill test (concentric muscle activity), or a bench-steptest (eccentric muscle activity) at a target heart rate corresponding to 65 % (+/- 5 %) of Karvonen heart rate. Urine samples were obtained before the test and 60 min and 120 min after the end of exercise. Subjects completed a Likert scale of muscle soreness before and 12 h after exercise. 19-NA and 19-NE were determined by gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS-MS). Baseline urinary 19-NA and 19-NE concentrations were under limit of detection of 0.05 ng/ml, except for one sample (0.13 ng/ml). No 19-NA or 19-NE could be detected post exercise. In our experimental conditions, the exercise mode (eccentric or concentric) had no impact on 19-NA or 19-NE excretion. Our findings confirm that the current International Olympic Committee threshold level for nandrolone metabolites is sufficiently high to avoid false positive cases.

Screening of anabolic steroids in horse urine by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry / Nola H. Yu, Emmie N.M. Ho, David K.K. Leung, Terence S.M. Wan

• Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis 37 (2005) 5 (29 April), p. 1031-1038
• PMID: 15862683
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpba.2004.08.041

Abstract

Anabolic steroids have the capability of improving athletic performance and are banned substances in the Olympic games as well as in horseracing and equestrian competitions. The control of their abuse in racehorses is traditionally performed by detecting the presence of anabolic steroids and/or their metabolite(s) in urine samples using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). However, this approach usually requires tedious sample processing and chemical derivatisation steps and could be very insensitive in detecting certain steroids. This paper describes a high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS-MS) method for the detection of anabolic steroids that are poorly covered by GC-MS. Enzyme-treated urine was processed by solid-phase extraction (SPE) using a Bond Elut Certify cartridge, followed by a base wash for further cleanup. Separation of the steroids was carried out on a reversed-phase DB-8 column using 0.1% acetic acid and methanol as the mobile phase in a gradient elution programme. The mass spectrometer for the detection of the steroids was operated in the positive electrospray ionisation (ESI) mode with multiple reaction monitoring (MRM). Urine samples fortified with 15 anabolic steroids (namely, androstadienone, 1-androstenedione, bolasterone, boldione, 4-estrenedione, gestrinone, methandrostenolone, methenolone, 17alpha-methyltestosterone, norbolethone, normethandrolone, oxandrolone, stenbolone, trenbolone and turinabol) at low ng/mL levels were consistently detected. No significant matrix interference was observed at the retention times of the targeted ion masses in blank urine samples. The method specificity, sensitivity, precision, recoveries, and the performance of the enzyme hydrolysis step were evaluated. The successful application of the method to analyse methenolone acetate administration urine samples demonstrated that the method could be effective in detecting anabolic steroids and their metabolites in horse urine.

The New Zealand Olympic Wrestling Union (WNZ) has reported an anti-doping rule violation against the Respondent after his sample tested positive for the prohibited substance Cannabis.
After notification by WNZ the Respondent filed a statement in his defence and was heard for the Tribunal.
Respondent stated he had smoked cannabis in a period he had become depressed as a result of the break-up of his relationship. Hereafter he went back to work and to training for the upcoming competition. Respondent accepted the positive test result and expressed his regrets with the embarrassment he has caused to his sport.

Considering the Respondent had no intention to enhance sport performance the Sports Disputes Tribunal of New Zealand decides to impose a reprimand on the Respondent and fines him 250 NZD. The Tribunal orders Respondent to pay costs of 250 NZD to Wrestling New Zealand.

IOC Anti-Doping Testing Statistics 2002 / International Olympic Committee (IOC). - Lausanne : IOC, 2004

IOC Anti-Doping Testing Statistics 2001 / International Olympic Committee (IOC). - Lausanne : IOC, 2004

IOC Anti-Doping Testing Statistics 2000 / International Olympic Committee (IOC). - Lausanne : IOC, 2004

Facts
The International Rugby Board (the Board) alleges that Davy Larguet (the player) committed a Doping Offence. When a urine sample provided in the course of a doping control test taken at the Rugby World Cup 2005 Sevens qualifying tournament in Palma – Mallorca, Spain, on 16 July 2004, was found to have contained a Prohibited
Substance, 11-nor-delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid (Cannabinoids) at a concentration of higher than 15ng/ml.

History
The player admitted the doping violation and explained in writing that he only smoked in a social context (the wedding of a friend).

Decision
The Player will be ineligible for participation in rugby for a period of two months, commencing on the date on which his provisional suspension first took effect.

Analysis of baseline by treatment interactions in a drug prevention and health promotion program for high school male athletes / Matthew S. Fritz, David P. MacKinnon, Jason Williams, Linn Goldberg, Esther L. Moe, Diane L. Ellio. - (Addictive Behaviors 30 (2005) 5 (June); p. 1001-1005)

• PMID: 15893095
• DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2004.08.030

Abstract

This paper investigates baseline by treatment interactions (BTI) of a randomized anabolic steroid prevention program delivered to high school football players. Baseline by treatment interactions occur when a participant's score on an outcome variable is associated with both their pretreatment standing on the outcome variable and the treatment itself. The program was delivered to 31 high school football teams (Control=16, Treatment=15) in Oregon and Washington over the course of 3 years (Total N=3207). Although most interactions were nonsignificant, consistent baseline by treatment interactions were obtained for knowledge of the effects of steroid use and intentions to use steroids. Both of these interactions were beneficial in that they increased the effectiveness of the program for participants lower in knowledge and higher in intentions at baseline.

World Anti-Doping Agency Independent Observer Report Olympic Summer Games 2004 Athens / Ulrich Haas. - Independent Observer Team. - Montreal : World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), 2004