Prohibited substance cases under FEI anti-doping rules

The FEI has announced an adverse analytical finding (AAF) involving an equine prohibited substance.

The case involves a *Banned Substance under the FEI’s Equine Anti-Doping and Controlled Medication Regulations (EADCMRs).

The athlete has been provisionally suspended from the date of notification until the FEI Tribunal renders its decision. The horse has been provisionally suspended for two months:

Horse: Dolly Palo Blanco (FEI ID 104PR65/GUA)

Person Responsible: Alvaro Enrique Tejada Arriola (FEI ID 10000668/GUA)

Event: C.Am+Caraib Games-S - Bogotá (COL), 25-29 July 2018

Prohibited Substance(s): Diisopropylamine

Date of notification: 5 September 2018

Details on this case can be found here.

The FEI Tribunal has also issued Final Decisions in two cases involving Banned Substances.

One case involves the horse Shiners Chic (FEI ID 103DF20/GBR), ridden by British athlete Jessica Sternberg (FEI ID 10055844/GBR) at the CRI3* in Katy (USA) on 20-21 April 2017, where the sample included Stanozolol.

The athlete was suspended for 17 months from the date of the sample collection until 4 September 2018, and the horse was provisionally suspended for two months. The athlete will also be fined 3,000 CHF and contribute 1,000 CHF to legal costs.

The other case involves FYF DUTCH (FEI ID 103CM43/USA), ridden by Nicki Meuten (FEI ID 10030582/USA) at the CEI3* 160 in Coates Creek (CAN) on 2 July 2017, where the sample included O-Desmethyl Venlafaxine.

The Tribunal found the athlete at no fault for the rule violation, after finding that the presence of the Banned Substance could be the result of water contamination. The horse was provisionally suspended for two months. The athlete bore her own legal costs and the costs for the requested B sample analysis.

The athletes have 21 days to appeal the decisions to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) from the dates of notification of the Final Decisions (30 August 2018).

Further details on this case can be found 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 those 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. 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. Information on all substances is available on the searchable FEI Equine Prohibited Substances Database.

**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 which 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.