AN FEI Tribunal has lifted the provisional suspension imposed last week on Swiss show jumping rider Steve Guerdat. However both of the Olympic gold medallist’s horses who tested positive for banned and controlled substances, remain suspended by the sport’s governing body.

The FEI is yet to confirm if Guerdat will be stripped of all results recorded with the horses in question (Nino Des Buissonnets and Nasa), from the time the positive tests were taken at La Baule in May, up to the date that the suspensions came into effect last week.

Irish rider Bertram Allen finished runner-up to Guerdat and Nino Des Buissonnets in the La Baule Grand Prix and Allen will be declared the winner of the French five-star contest if Guerdat’s is disqualified.

The Swiss rider and Nino Des Buissonnets also lined-out in a number of key Nations Cup contests, during and following La Baule, and the Irish show jumping team could gain extra league points should the FEI also strip Guerdat of his team results since the positive tests in May.

Samples taken from Nino des Buissonnets at La Baule returned positive for the banned substances Codeine, Oripavine, and the controlled medication substance Morphine, while a second horse ridden by Guerdat, Nasa, returned positive for the banned substance Codeine and the controlled medication substance Morphine.

An FEI statement this week, said that the tribunal’s decision to lift the suspension imposed on Guerdat, was based on the scientific evidence presented by the persons responsible (the athletes) which suggests the likelihood of food contamination.

SUSPENSIONS

While the FEI Tribunal lifted the provisional suspensions on Guerdat and a second Swiss rider Alessandra Bichsel, requests from both riders for the lifting of the provisional suspension on their three horses were denied.

The Tribunal found that irrespective of the source of the prohibited substances, banned substances had been found in the system of the horses and it is the FEI’s established policy to impose a provisional suspension period of two months in such cases.

The FEI also stated its decisions purely ruled on the lifting of the provisional suspensions and decisions on the merits of the cases will be made at a later stage.

It has been suggested that poppy seeds could be the source of any possible food contamination as Oripavine positive tests are frequently the result of poppy seed ingestion. Codeine and Morphine, both of which are found in poppy seeds, are also analgesics (pain killers).

TWO-YEAR BAN

Meanwhile an FEI tribunal this week issued final decisions in two further cases involving positive tests for prohibited substances in 2014.

United Arab Emirates show jumper Moh’d Shafi H Al Rumaithi competed at the two-star competition in Ghantoot (UAE) in November 2014 with the horse Royal Des Fontaines.

Samples taken from the horse at the event returned positive for the banned substance Propoxyphene and its metabolite Norpropoxyphene.

The tribunal has imposed a two-year competition ban on Al Rumaithi and he has also been fined CHF 1,000 and will contribute CHF 1,000 towards the costs of the judicial procedure. Additionally, the FEI tribunal has imposed a two-year suspension on the owner of Royal Des Fontaines, following his admission of having administered Fustex, which contains Propoxyphene, to the horse. The owner has also been fined CHF 2,000 and will pay costs of CHF 1,000.

A second case involving Qatari endurance rider Ali Yousef J Y Al Kubaisi, saw the rider also receive a two-year ban from the sport.

Samples taken from his horse In Situ, at the 120-kilometre two-star endurance competition at Mesaieed in Doha (QAT) in February 2014, returned positive for the banned substance Propoxyphene, a painkiller with local anaesthetic properties.

Al Kubaisi has also been fined CHF 1,000, will contribute CHF 1,000 towards the costs of the judicial procedure and pay the costs of the B sample analysis.

Both athletes have 30 days to appeal the decisionins to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).