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8 July 2021
The ITA confirms that the Chilean Weightlifter Arley Mendez Perez has accepted a one-month period of ineligibility after testing positive for carboxy-THC (S8 Cannabinoids) in the scope of an in-competition control during the South American Ibero-American & Open Senior Championships in Cali, Colombia, on 12 May 2021.
Mr. Mendez Perez established that he had smoked cannabis out-of-competition and in a context unrelated to sport performance. He has also accepted to undertake a rehabilitation program. The athlete’s sanction was thus lowered to one month insofar as he meets the requirements of the mitigation regime of “Substance of Abuse” set forth in Article 10.2.4.1 of the IWF Anti-Doping Rules (“IWF ADR”)1.
The athlete is ineligible from 29 June 2021 (date of notification of the adverse analytical finding – AAF) to 28 July 2021. As provided in the IWF ADR (Article 9), the athlete’s competition result obtained on 12 May 2021 is automatically disqualified since he tested positive on the day of the event.
The disqualification of the event does not impact Mr. Mendez Perez’s qualification for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 since the athlete had already earned sufficient points during previous IWF qualifying events. The athlete will be eligible to compete in Tokyo since his competition takes place on 31 July 2021 (Men’s 81kg category) and he will, therefore, have duly served his suspension period.
The ITA also confirms the lifting of the provisional suspension imposed against the Brazilian weightlifter Ms. Nathasha Rosa Figueiredo for her AAFs for hydrochlorothiazide and metabolite chloraminophenamide (S5. Diuretics and Masking Agents) from two samples, one collected in-competition during the Pan-American Championships, Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic on 20 April 2021 and one collected out-of-competition on 31 May 2021.2
The athlete was able to establish that her AAFs came from the intake of a contaminated supplement, which is a ground to lift the provisional suspension according to the IWF ADR. A decision on the consequences of the anti-doping rule violation is expected to be issued by the Court of Arbitration for Sport – Anti-Doping Division (CAS ADD) before the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Depending on the outcome of the CAS ADD decision, Ms. Rosa Figueiredo may be eligible to participate in the Tokyo Olympic Games or not.
The ITA will not comment further on these matters at this stage.
1: The World Anti-Doping Code (“Code”) defines “Substances of Abuse” as “substances that are identified as such because they are frequently abused in society outside of the context of sport. The following are designated Substances of Abuse: cocaine, diamorphine (heroin), methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA/”ecstasy”), tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).” The regime of “Substance of Abuse” was introduced on 1 January 2021 with the entry of the new Code. Prior to the 2021 Code, sanctions for such cases could go up to four years depending on the circumstances. The introduction of the “Substance of Abuse” regime addresses the concerns expressed by many stakeholders during the public consultation process for the new Code whereby it transpired that where the athlete’s positive case is rather related to a drug problem than to performance enhancement, the athlete’s health should be the priority. Whilst the 2021 novelty goes in the right direction of protecting athletes and the integrity of the sport – ITA’s key mission – the ITA continuously engages with the anti-doping stakeholders, including WADA, to see how the anti-doping program can be better tailored to its objectives.
2: Since the Athlete was informed of her first AAF after providing her second sample on 31 May 2021, this case is considered as one single ADRV pursuant to Article 10.9.3.1. of the IWF ADR.
