In March 2004 the Lyfjaráð ÍSÍ, the Iceland ISI Anti-Doping Committee, has reported an anti-doping rule violation against the Athlete after his sample tested positive for the prohibited substance ephedrine.
After notification the Athlete did not attend the hearing of the ISI Tribunal, nor did he file a statement in his defence.
The ISI Tribunal decides to impose a 6 month period of ineligibility on the Athlete, starting on the date of the notification, i.e. 24 March 2004.
I Waddington, D Malcolm, M Roderick, R Naik
Br J Sports Med 2005;39:e18 (http://www.bjsportmed.com/cgi/content/full/39/4/e18). doi: 10.1136/bjsm.2004.012468
5 Roundhill Road, Leicester LE5 5RJ, UK; ivan.waddington@ntlworld.com
Objectives: To examine several issues related to drug use in English professional football. More particularly the project sought to gather data on: players’ use of permitted supplements (mineral and
vitamin pills and creatine); whether they sought advice, and if so from whom, about their use of supplements; their experience of and attitudes towards drug testing; their views on the extent of the use of banned performance enhancing and recreational drugs in football; and their personal knowledge of players who used such drugs.
Methods: With the cooperation of the Professional Footballers Association (PFA), reply paid postal questionnaires were delivered to the home addresses of all 2863 members of the PFA. A total of 706 questionnaires were returned, a response rate of just under 25%
Results: Many players use supplements, although almost one in five players does so without seeking qualified professional advice from anyone within the club. Blood tests are rarely used to monitor the health of players. One third of players had not been tested for drugs within the preceding two years, and 60% felt that they were unlikely to be tested in the next year. The use of performance enhancing drugs appears to be rare, although recreational drugs are commonly used by professional footballers: 6% of respondents
indicated that they personally knew players who used performance enhancing drugs, and 45% of players knew players who used recreational drugs.
Conclusions: There is a need to ensure that footballers are given appropriate advice about the use of supplements in order to minimise the risk of using supplements that may be contaminated with banned substances. Footballers are tested for drugs less often than many other elite athletes. This needs to be addressed. The relatively high level of recreational drug use is not reflected in the number of positive tests. This suggests that many players who use recreational drugs avoid detection. It also raises doubts about the ability of the drug testing programme to detect the use of performance enhancing drugs.
Sporcular arasında anabolik androjenik steroid ve efedrin kullanımı = Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid and Ephedrine Use Among Sportsmen / Erdal Vardar, Cem Kurt, S. Arzu Vardar. - (Bağımlılık Dergisi = Journal of Dependence (2004) 5; p. 20-25)
Abstract
Objective: Anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) and ephedrine are used to enhance athletic performance or physical appearance among sportsmen. The use of these drugs can produce serious adverse medical and psychiatric effects. The primary purpose of the present study was to determine the rate of AAS and ephedrine containing drug use in sportsmen; and secondarily, to identify the socio-demographic features, dependence and abuse characteristics in AAS and ephedrine users.
Methods: In the city of Edirne, two-hundred forty-two sportsmen at Trakya University Sport Academy and sportsmen attending private gymnasiums were included in the study. Subjects completed a self report questionnaire for socio-demographic features, drug abuse and dependence characteristics. DSM-IV research criteria of drug abuse and dependence were used to identify the characteristics of AAS and ephedrine users over the preceding [year].
Results: The results showed that 27 (11%) of the sportsmen had used AAS and ephedrine within the last 1 [year]. Of the 27 drug users, 6 of them were female and 6 of them were still using drugs at the time of the interview. One third of the users of AAS and drugs containing ephedrine met at least one DSM-IV research criteria for dependence and abuse. AAS and ephedrine use were more prevalent in wrestlers and body builders compared to other sportsmen. Withdrawal was the most frequently reported symptom and this symptom was characterized mainly by the presence of depressive moods. 77% of the drug users reported that they had begun to use these drugs at the behest of their trainers.
Conclusion: AAS and ephedrine containing drugs use was shown to have become widespread among sportsmen in the city of Edirne. The use of these drugs may induce abuse and dependence problems among the sportsmen.
THE 2004 MONITORING PROGRAM*
The following substances are placed on the 2004 Monitoring Program:
Stimulants: In-Competition Only: caffeine, phenylephrine,
phenylpropanolamine, pipradrol, pseudoephedrine, synephrine.
Narcotics: In-Competition Only: morphine/codeine ratio
*: The WADA Code (4.5) states "WADA, in consultation with other Signatories and governments, shall establish a monitoring program regarding substances which are not on the Prohibited List, but which WADA wishes to monitor in order to detect patterns of misuse in sport."
The Respondent, Adham Sbeih, is an elite-level athlete in the sport of cycling. In 2003, he became the United States National Champion in the 4-kilometer pursuit track event. On August 26, 2003, Respondent provided an urine sample at the USA Cycling Elite Track Nationals in Trexeltown, Pa. at the request of USADA. The A and B sample were tested positive for r-EPO.
Respondent contended at the hearing that there was an improper interpretation of the electropherogram related to his sample and that therefore there was not sufficient evidence of a doping offense for r-EPO, if he is found to have committed a doping offense, the penalty should be reduced from two years to 11 months.
Decision and award:
- The Panel finds that there is insufficient evidence from either side as to any theory on how the r-EPO got into Sbeih’s body.
- The minimum suspension for a first offender of two (2) years to take place effective from August 26, 2003, is imposed on Respondent pursuant to UCI Regulations, Art. 130.
- All competitive results that occurred on or after August 26, 2003, are cancelled.
The administrative fees and expenses of the American Arbitration Association and the compensation and expenses of the arbitrators shall by borne entirely by USADA.
Claimant USADA and respondent Faruk Sahin. Respondent's urine sample tested positive on the stimulant phentermine.
The substance was related to a pill he used from his wife in order to release back pains.
FILA Anti-Doping Regulations applying to this matter: The presence of a Prohibited Substance or its Metabolites or Markers in a Wrestler's bodily Specimen; Imposition of Ineligibility for Prohibited Substances and Prohibited
Methods; Elimination or reduction of Period of Ineligibility based on Exceptional Circumstances.
Decision and Award: the two-year suspension which began on May 18, 2004 when respondent accepted a provisional suspension, is affirmed.
Update on nandrolone and norsteroids : how endogenous or xenobiotic are these substances? / V. Bricout, F. Wright. - (European Journal of Applied Physiology 92 (2004) 1-2 (June); p. 1-12)
Abstract
Norsteroids are xenobiotics with androgenic and anabolic properties known since as far back as the 1930s. In doping controls, the use of the banned xenobiotic norsteroids is detected in the competitor's urines by the measurement of norandrosterone (19-NA) and noretiocholanolone (19-NE), which are the main metabolites for nandrolone (NT) and most norsteroids with anabolic properties. In 1996, the IOC subcommission "Doping and Biochemistry of Sport" informed the Heads of the "IOC Accredited Laboratories" that the recommended cut-off limit for reporting an offence was to be 1-2 ng ml(-1) urine for either 19-NA or 19-NE. We will discuss how technical progress in gas chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry permitted a dramatic increase in sensitivity with a detection limit of 1 pg ml(-1) urine, or less, and an assay limit of 20-50 pg ml(-1) urine, for either 19-NA or 19-NE. As a paradox, norsteroids have been known for decades as not only xenobiotics but also obligatory endogenous intermediates in the biosynthesis of estrogens from androgens in all species, man included. It is this biochemical observation which fed the active scientific and medical controversy initiated in 1998 over the possibly endogenous production of nandrolone and metabolites well over the new IOC's recommended cut-off limit of 2 ng ml(-1) urine. Notwithstanding the particular technical difficulties attached, we will provide data and discuss the minute endogenous levels detected and measured in man either at rest, after performance or training and compare them to the relatively high levels reported in male athlete's doping controls today. We will also discuss data on the pharmacological effects of some contraceptive therapies containing norsteroids in women. In view of the well-documented noxious effects repeatedly observed after anabolic steroid misuse, the confirmation and implementation of technically proven procedures for reporting norsteroid abuse in sports seems an important enough goal to protect athlete's health against such abuses and justifies up dating the review of the patent scientific and medical experience and knowledge gained over the last 50 years on nandrolone and its minor production in man and woman.
The 2004 Prohibited List International Standard : The World Anti-Doping Code / World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). - Montreal : WADA, 2004.
- Update 17 March 2004.
- This List shall come into effect on 26 March 2004
Anti-Doping controls from 1987 to 2000 / Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano (CONI). - Roma : CONI, 2004
CAS 2003/A/484 Kicker Vencill vs USADA
Related documents:
On 23 June 2003 the North American Court of Arbitration (NACAS) decided to impose a 4 year period of ineligibility on the American swimmer Kicker Vencill after his A and B samples tested positive for the prohibited substance 19-norandrosterone (Nandrolone).
Hereafter in July 2003 the Athlete appealed the NACAS decision with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The Athlete requested for a reduced sanction on the basis of No Significant Fault or Negligence.
The Athlete argued a number of issues in support of his appeal, ranging from:
The Panel finds that there is no question that the Athlete is guilty of committing an anti-doping rule violation and he failed to establish that the chain of custody of his sample was anything other than intact. Further the Panel concludes that the laboratory analysis was correctly conducted, the Athlete’s samples had not deteriorated or been contaminated and the proper laboratory procedures had been followed.
The Panel accepts that the violation was not intentional and that laboratory analysis revealed that the supplement in question was contaminated. However the Athlete showed also a total disregard of his positive duty to ensure that no prohibited substance enters his body.
As a result the Panel holds that the Athlete’s Fault or Negligence in the circumstances is exceptionally significant in relation to the doping violation.
Therefore the of Court of Arbitration for Sport decides on 11 March 2004 that:
1.) The jurisriction of the CAS is affirmed;
2.) The appeal filed by Mr. Vencill on 14 July 2003 is dismissed;
3.) Save for the applicable period of ineligibility as specified in paragraph 4 below, the decision in this matter issued by the North American Court of Arbitration for Sport Panel dated 23 June 2003 is upheld;
4.) Kicker Vencill shall be declared ineligible for competition for two years commencing as of 22 May 2003:
5.) The Court Office fee of CHF 500 already paid by Mr. Vencill shall be retained by the CAS;
6.) Each party shall bear its own costs.
