400m World champion Naser cleared of doping charges
Doping
charges against Bahrain’s 400m World champion Salwa Eid Naser have been
dismissed.
The
ruling was made by the World Athletics Disciplinary Tribunal which said one of
the four whereabout violations, dated April 12, 2019, cannot be confirmed as a
missed test which means that she did not miss three tests within a 12-month
period.
Any
combination of three whereabouts failures — filing failures or missed tests —
within a 12-month period by an athlete constitutes an anti-doping violation. If
found guilty, athletes can face two-year bans or a minimum of one year
depending on the degree of fault.
The Nigerian-born athlete won the
quarter-mile event at the World Championships in Doha, Qatar last year.
She
was charged and provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU)
in June.
Naser was found to have breached
three of the whereabouts requirements brought against her, a filing failure on
January 1, 2019 and two missed tests, on March 12 January 24 this year.
The
tribunal said, “This was a case very much on the borderline and we hope
the athlete will learn from the experience and heed the AIU’s warnings.”
