The World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) is seeking information from UK Anti Doping (UKAD) about how the case of a British cyclist was handled in 2010 when trace amounts of a metabolite of the steroid nandrolone were found in the cyclist’s sample.
The Sunday Times today published a story stating when the trace amounts were found 11 years ago, UK Anti Doping informed British Cycling, and the cyclist in question was also informed.
Further testing was also carried out on that cyclist, as well as a small number of other riders, in the weeks that followed and all reportedly were negative for any doping products.
The cyclist in question was an international rider who had represented Great Britain. It is alleged in British media reports that British Cycling was allowed to carry out its own investigation, including urine tests.
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Those allegations have been put to WADA by the media and on receipt of those media queries WADA has said it plans to examine the matter and wants more information from UKAD.
Its inquiry, into the allegations being made in the media, will seek to establish if the scenario put forward in the media reports is accurate and, if so, if rules were broken.
The same scenario arose with the infamous "jiffy bag" case - with the allegations emerging from within the media and the investigations that followed based exclusively on information that came from the media.
However, it was never proven there was any banned substance in the bag delivered to Team Sky in France in 2011, though the team's inability to prove what was in the bag was damaging to it.
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If trace amounts of a banned or controlled substance are
discovered in an athlete’s sample, it does not necessarily trigger an
investigation or count as a positive test result.
Nandrolone is also a “threshold substance”, which means a specific amount has to appear in a sample before an anti doping process would begin. A health issue or a contaminated supplement could lead to very small metabolite trace amounts being detected in a person’s system.
WADA is now set
to examine how the matter was handled by UKAD, what decisions were made and on
what basis.
WADA issued a
statement saying: “Some of the information provided to WADA on this is of
significant concern. We have asked our independent Intelligence and Investigations
Department to look into this matter and to contact UKAD to seek further
information.”
UKAD issued a
statement to the BBC saying: "Sometimes amounts of a 'threshold
substance' can be reported by the laboratory in a negative sample which are
found to be below the threshold where an investigation is required.
"These are trace amounts and can sometimes occur in
the body naturally. The guidance from WADA is that these trace findings may be
used to help to decide who gets tested and when in the future, but does not
automatically lead to an investigation.
"We work within the WADA framework and are always
happy to work with them if they ever require any further information from us on
any of our activities."
This latest
controversy follows a verdict in recent weeks against Richard Freeman, the
former doctor who worked for Team Sky and British Cycling. He was found guilty
of ordering Testogel sachets – a testosterone product – to the British Cycling
and Team Sky base in Manchester in 2011 knowing or believing they were to be
used for performance gain.
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