Il TAS, Tribunale Arbitrale dello Sport, infligge ad Andrea Iannone una squalifica di quattro anni per aver violato le regole antidoping. In questo modo, il tribunale estende la sanzione precedentemente inflitta dalla FIM, Federazione Internazionale di Motociclismo, lo scorso marzo al pilota che era già di 18 mesi.
Il 17 dicembre 2019 è la data presa in considerazione come inizio della squalifica e tutti i risultati o i punti ottenuti da quel momento in poi dall’abruzzese vengono eliminati.
L’irregolarità è stata evidenziata al GP della Malsasia nel 2019 durante un controllo antidoping di routine dov’è stata rilevata una sostanza proibita nelle analizi del pilota di Vasto.
Iannone ha sempre sostenuto che la sostanta in questione provenisse dalla carne mangiata prima di raggiungere il Sepang International Circuit in un ristorante locale.
Qui di seguito il comunicato in inglese rilasciato dal TAS
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has announced its decision
in the appeal arbitration procedures between the Italian MotoGP rider Andrea Iannone, the World AntiDoping Agency (WADA) and the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Andrea Iannone
and WADA filed separate appeals at CAS against the decision rendered by the FIM International
Disciplinary Court dated 31 March 2020 in which Andrea Iannone was found to have committed an
anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) (presence of Drostanolone, a anabolic steroid featured on the 2019
WADA Prohibited List) and an 18-month period of ineligibility was imposed on him.
The CAS Panel rejected the appeal filed by Andrea Iannone and upheld the appeal filed by WADA.
As a consequence, the decision rendered by the FIM International Disciplinary Court has been set
aside and replaced with the following new decision:
• Andrea Iannone is sanctioned with a period of ineligibility of four years commencing on
17 December 2019.
• All competitive results obtained by Andrea Iannone from and including 1 November 2019
through the commencement of his suspension are disqualified, with all resulting consequences,
including forfeiture of any medals, points and prizes.
The appeals were consolidated and referred to the same Panel of arbitrators: Dr. Hamid G. Gharavi,
France/I.R. of Iran (President), Judge Franco Frattini, Italy, and The Hon. Michael J. Beloff Q.C., UK
(Co-arbitrators). The hearing took place on 15 October 2020.
On 3 November 2019, on the occasion of the FIM World Championship MotoGP in Sepang/Malaysia,
Mr. Iannone underwent an in-competition doping control which revealed the presence of
Drostanolone. Further to an internal disciplinary procedure, the FIM International Disciplinary Court
decided on 31 March 2020 that Mr. Iannone should be suspended from participating in any
motorcycling competition or activity during 18 months as of 17 December 2019.
Andrea Iannone asserted that the source of the prohibited substance was contaminated meat that he
had ingested in Malaysia prior to the 2019 Sepang FIM World Championship MotoGP and that
accordingly, he should be fully acquitted and that the Challenged Decision should be annulled.
WADA, on the other hand, sought the imposition of a four-year period of ineligibility on the grounds
that Andrea Iannone had failed to establish to the requisite standard that the origin of the prohibited
substance in his sample resulted from meat contamination, and that as a consequence, the imposition
of a four-year period of ineligibility was the appropriate sanction.
The CAS Panel found that Andrea Iannone had failed to establish neither the precise type of meat he
had consumed nor the origin of said meat. Moreover, the Panel found that neither Andrea Iannone nor
his experts were able to establish specifically that there was an issue of meat contamination by
Drostanolone in Malaysia. The Panel considered therefore that an ADRV has been committed.
Andrea Iannone essentially left the Panel with protestations of innocence, his clean record and his
alleged lack of incentive to dope. Factors which were insufficient to establish, on a balance of
probability that Andrea Iannone’s ADRV was not intentional (in case of an unintentional ADRV, the
applicable period of ineligibility would have been of two years maximum).
Since it is for an athlete to establish on the balance of probabilities that an ADRV is not intentional,
his inability to do so means that he is deemed to have committed an intentional ADRV, pursuant to
the applicable anti-doping rules. The Panel’s conclusion does not of itself rule out the possibility that
Andrea Iannone’s ADRV may be the result of consumption of meat contaminated by Drostanolone
but means that Andrea Iannone has not been able to provide any convincing evidence to establish that
the ADRV he committed was unintentional.
Accordingly, the Panel found, contrary to the Appealed Decision, that the ADRV committed by
Andrea Iannone was to be treated as intentional for purposes of the applicable anti-doping rules, and
therefore upheld WADA’s Appeal. The CAS award sets aside the decision rendered by the
FIM International Disciplinary Court dated 31 March 2020 and imposes a four-year period of
ineligibility on Andrea Iannone.