FEI Tribunal issues a Decision in a doping case

The FEI Tribunal has issued a Decision confirming the terms of the Settlement Agreement reached by the parties in an equine doping case involving a Banned Substance.

In this case, the horse Kenlock Cadillac (FEI ID: 106JG79/AUS), ridden by Rebekah Italiano (FEI ID: 10065197/AUS), tested positive for the Banned Substance Warfarin following a doping control at the CCI4*-S-Ballarat VIC (AUS), 6-7 May 2023.

The FEI notified the athlete of the positive results for the Banned Substance on 4 September 2023 and, in accordance with the  Equine Anti-Doping Rules, provisionally suspended the athlete from the date of the notification. The FEI also provisionally suspended the Horse for two months from that date.

The FEI Tribunal was satisfied that the athlete had established, on a balance of probabilities, that the source of the Prohibited Substance arose from a contamination of the Horse feed by rats and consequentlythe athlete bears No Significant Fault or Negligence for the rule violation. The athlete was sanctioned with a two-month Ineligibility Period, starting from the date of the Final Decision (the Provisional Suspension already served by the athlete was credited against the imposed Ineligibility Period). The results of both, the athlete and horse, obtained at the Event were disqualified. Furthermore, the athlete was also fined with 3’000 CHF and asked to bear the costs of 1000 CHF for the B sample analysis.

The full Decision is available here. 

Notes to Editors:

FEI Equine Prohibited Substances

The FEI Prohibited Substances List is divided into two sections: Controlled Medication and *Banned Substances. Controlled Medication substances are medications that are regularly used to treat horses, but which must have been cleared from the horse’s system by the time of competition. Banned (doping) Substances should never be found in the body of the horse and are prohibited at all times.

In the case of an adverse analytical finding (AAF) for a Banned Substance, the Person Responsible (PR) is automatically provisionally suspended from the date of notification (with the exception of certain cases involving a Prohibited Substance which is also a **Specified Substance). The horse is provisionally suspended for two months.

**Specified Substances

The FEI introduced the concept of Specified Substances in 2016. Specified Substances should not in any way be considered less important or less dangerous than other Prohibited Substances (i.e. whether Banned or Controlled). Rather, they are simply substances that are more likely to have been ingested by horses for a purpose other than the enhancement of sport performance, for example, through a contaminated food substance. Positive cases involving Specified Substances can be handled with a greater degree of flexibility within the structure of the FEI Regulations.

Information on all substances is available on the searchable FEI Equine Prohibited Substances Database.