The Finnish Sports Ethics Center announced two doping violations on Friday.
Finnish soccer player Matias Lahti, 23, has been banned for four years for a doping violation. The Finnish Sports Ethics Center, or Suek, announced the decision of the Anti-Doping Disciplinary Board on Friday.
Lahti gave a positive sample on June 3 during the soccer Ykkönen match in Kotka.
The sample contained Letrozole’s metabolic product Bis-(4-cyanophenyl) methanol. The World Anti-Doping Agency Wada classifies the substance as modulators affecting hormones and metabolism.
Letrozole is a separately defined substance and prohibited at all times.
The Anti-Doping Disciplinary Board considered that Lahti had not used the substance to improve his performance, but to treat an illness. The problem was that he used the medicine before the application for a different exemption was processed.
Therefore, the board considered Lahti guilty of an intentional doping violation. The ban ends on November 6, 2026.
In his career, Lahti has represented, among others, FC Inter. Most recently, he played in Pargas IF in Parais.
Lahti wrote about the incident On his Instagram account at the end of August. The soccer player says his symptoms started last winter and spring. Lahti suffered from fatigue, frostbite and weakness.
After several doctor’s visits and tests, it became clear that Lahti suffers from a disorder of testosterone production. The doctor prescribed letrozole for the problem, which was intended to restore testosterone production to a normal level.
– I started using the medicine on the same day and at the same time I applied for a different exemption to Suek, so that I could use the medicine while playing sports, when I found out that the medicine is considered a doping substance. However, Suek did not accept my application for a different exemption to use the medicine, because the condition was interpreted as functional, that is, functional, Lahti wrote.
– According to them, if it were an organic disease, i.e. the condition was caused by an illness or cancer, I would have the right to get a different exemption for the medicine and take it.
Cannabinoids in the sample
Suek informed the American football player at the same time by Nolan Corpening a three-month suspension.
On August 25, Corpening, who represented the Crusaders in Finland, gave a doping sample that contained cannabinoids in the Vaahteraliiga match. In Wada’s rules, cannabinoids are prohibited during competition.
Based on Suek’s report, Corpening used the substance outside of competition, and the use was not connected to competition performance. The player admitted the doping violation and accepted his punishment.
Corpening’s operating ban ends on February 8, 2023.