A few days after the final acquittal of mountain biker Mathias Flückiger, explosive details come to light. The A-sample was stored in a private refrigerator for hours before being tested in the laboratory and was never positive. blue Sport has the verdict.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Mathias Flückiger was falsely accused of doping.
- His urine sample was assessed as positive by the responsible foundation. However, the necessary additional tests were not carried out.
- Flückiger was acquitted in October.
He is innocent: Mathias Flückiger was falsely accused of doping. The A sample was never positive and was basically unusable. In addition, the provisional ban imposed on him on August 18, 2022 should not have been imposed at all. But why? blue Sport has the verdict and rolls it up.
It's June 5, 2022 and Flückiger gives a urine sample at the Swiss Championships in Leysin at 5.29 pm. From this point on, the sample is in the hands of Swiss Sport Integrity, or SSI for short, an independent foundation that combats doping, ethical misconduct and malpractice in sport.
The sample arrives at the laboratory in Lausanne three days later, on June 8. The urine was found to contain 0.3 nanograms of ceranol per milliliter. Around two and a half months later, on August 18, 2022, Flückiger was found to have doped. He is provisionally banned. It later transpired that the conclusion and the resulting measure were wrong.
Wrongly assessed as positive
Flückiger's A sample was a so-called atypical result because it was below the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) limit of 5 nanograms per milliliter. In other words, it was not considered positive for the time being.
In such a case, WADA has defined ten steps that the testing bodies must complete in order to provide the burden of proof and initiate proceedings. However, these additional checks were not carried out by SSI - or at least only insufficiently. The authority ruled out contamination without consulting Flückiger beforehand. So there was only one thing left to do: SSI falsely turned the atypical result into a positive one.
Sample stored for hours in a private refrigerator
What's more, Flückiger's sample should never have been used in the first place. SSI has the task of taking samples to the laboratory as quickly as possible. However, the responsible inspector said that she took the sample home with her and stored it in her fridge until it was sent.
The decisive factor: Between sample submission on June 5, 5:29 p.m. and mailing on June 7, 8 a.m., there is no information about the storage of the sample. The inspector failed to document the storage location for 38.5 hours. This is another reason why the sample was invalid.
Flückiger wants procedural costs back
However, the invalid sample is only the tip of the iceberg, because the proceedings against Flückiger should never have been opened in the first place. A few days ago, the 36-year-old was finally acquitted.
Despite the acquittal, a certain amount of damage remains. In terms of reputation and finances, among other things. During the ban, certain sponsors stopped their payments, potential new sponsors did not even enter into a partnership and the competition bonuses were lost anyway.
Flückiger's expenses skyrocketed because of his defense. The cost was around 150,000 francs. The disciplinary chamber awarded him 43,000 francs, Flückiger also wants the rest of the money back and will sue SSI so that the damage is at least compensated financially.
