Athletics
CAS clears SA's Thys of doping
2012-01-19 14:11
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Lausanne - South African marathon runner Gert
Thys has won his doping case, nearly six years after testing positive
for a steroid when winning the Seoul International Marathon.
The
Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the World Anti-Doping Agency's
appeal to clear Thys after South African authorities failed to hear his
case.
The CAS panel said, in a ruling published this week, it was
"undisputed" that Thys tested positive for norandrosterone after winning
his third Seoul title in 2006.
But it agreed with WADA that "Mr. Thys's due process rights are seemingly being ignored" in South Africa.
The
South African athletics federation had banned Thys for two years and
seven months in December 2008. CAS cleared Thys in 2009 because of
laboratory errors handling the athlete's urine samples in South Korea.
One
year later, Switzerland's supreme court then ordered the case reheard
in South Africa. Judges agreed with the athletics federation's appeal
that its anti-doping rules should not have allowed CAS to process the
case.
However, the case stalled again prompting WADA to intervene
with the South Africa sports ministry and CAS to uphold the 40-year-old
Thys's rights.
The case returned to Lausanne for a second hearing in October.
Athletics
South Africa wrote to the sports court that it had "experienced a
financial crisis" and could not afford to send lawyers to the session.