- Iltalehti tells the reasons with which Tobi Amusan could get rid of his temporary suspension.
- Similar cases are also difficult for lawyers.
- The rules were tightened after the 100m world champion fumbled.
Since August, athletics circles have been gnawed by one question.
How the 100m hurdles world champion Tobi Amusan avoided a doping scandal?
– This is not the first time that a competition ban issued for neglecting the obligation to report whereabouts information does not last. The rules are not unambiguous, sports law expert Olli Rauste comment on the matter at a general level.
The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), the independent anti-doping body of the International Association of Athletics Federations, placed Amusan on a temporary suspension from competition on July 19 precisely because of the suspicion of neglecting whereabouts information.
According to the AIU, the runner received a third citation in a 12-month period for failing to comply with whereabouts orders.
On August 17, a news bomb went off when the Disciplinary Council released Amusan from the competition ban. According to it, the runner did not commit a third breach of whereabouts information in 12 months.
What liberated?
Tobi Amusan’s case still resonates. PASI LEISMA
Legal director of the Finnish Sports Ethics Center (Suek). Petteri Lindblom the answer to what can lead to the lifting of the temporary non-compete related to whereabouts information is clear.
– We do not know the cause of the case in question. On a general level, it can be estimated that one or more location errors were not an error in the end, says Lindblom.
Athletes who are part of the testing pool must notify each day of one hour and place when they can be reached for a doping test. Three omissions in a 12-month period will lead to a doping violation investigation, the usual consequence of which is a two-year ban.
There are two reasons for not registering. The first is inaccessibility for the test, when the athlete was not at the place he announced at the time he announced when the doping testers came.
Neglecting the reporting obligation is when an athlete does not report their whereabouts or is caught entering incorrect data.
– It’s not always easy to say which one it is, Rauste says.
The athlete may have an independent, very compelling reason for neglecting whereabouts information. In similar cases, the athlete has explained the situation and has not received a notice of negligence.
– These unforeseen situations can be, for example, a spouse going into labor or a situation requiring urgent hospital treatment for either the athlete or his close circle, Suek’s testing manager Katja Huotari commented on the location information system, and not Amusani, to Iltalehte in August.
Wrong place?
Olli Rauste is an expert in sports law. Tiina Somerpuro
Rausti has one more scenario in mind.
– The reason could also be that Amusan has announced a place, but the tester has not been able to go to the right door, Rauste reflects.
Doping testers have the opportunity to call during the last five minutes of the hour announced by the athlete. Answering or not answering the phone does not affect possible negligence.
– If the athlete is at the address he gave, he has the opportunity to avoid negligence by opening the door after the call, during the last five minutes of the announced hour, says Suek.
The rule changed
Christian Coleman was freed thanks to a loophole. EPA/AOP
One of the most famous track and field location networks in recent years was joined by the 100m world champion to Christian Coleman.
In the summer of 2019, Coleman was placed on a temporary suspension due to three marks of negligence. A loophole in the rules at the time saved the American runner.
In contrast to failure to reach the test, failure to report was recorded at the beginning of the current quarter. So not for the day when the neglect was noticed.
The date of Coleman’s first case was therefore moved from June 2018 to April of the same year.
– Then the violations were no longer during the same 12 months. Coleman was released from the competition ban, Rauste reminds.
The rule has since been changed. Currently, the neglect of whereabouts information, which is not related to a test attempt made during the hour, is marked on the day on which the neglect is detected.
Not easy
Tobi Amusan has asserted his innocence. PASI LEISMA
Amusan competed in Poland on July 16 and again in Hungary two days later. AIU already announced on July 18 about the temporary ban.
Informing the athlete about neglect marks is handled by the organization whose testing pool the athlete primarily belongs to. It can be an international sports federation.
– I don’t think that the third negligence would have happened on the evening of the race day. It is necessary to make a legal assessment and analyze whether it was a third violation before the temporary suspension can be announced. It probably happened some time before the competition, Rauste believes.
Amusan was released from the collar by a disciplinary council made up of jurists. According to Rauste, cases related to whereabouts information are also difficult for lawyers.
– The facts can become a dispute. Cases of failure to report whereabouts are therefore more often dropped than those with a positive A sample. These are not easy things.
– The liberating decision did not come out of nowhere. It’s not about Amusan’s protection, but they had a genuine reason to solve the case that way.
In Rauste’s opinion, the rules related to whereabouts information cannot remain the same.
– They should be changed. What constitutes failure to report and when it occurs should be more clearly defined than at present.
AIU appealed the decision to CAS, the International Court of Appeal for Sport.