Contador Cleared... for now at least.

[swampy1970]

http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_29199.shtml

The Spanish Cycling Federation, RFEC, has decided to absolve Alberto Contador, the cyclist who has been accused of doping after trace levels of the hormone Clenbuterol were found in his blood. News of the decision comes in the Spanish sports paper Marca.

The Competition Committee of the RFEC has decided to support the cyclist from Madrid who has always protested his innocence and said the hormone must have come from some meat he had eaten.
It seems the committee were impressed by the AMA, World Anti-doping Agency and their attitude over the table tennis player, Dmitrij Ovtcharov, who also tested positive in the same way.

The Federation Competition Committee have therefore decided that Contador is not guilty, and has not acted in a negligent way, and that the prohibited substance had entered his body accidentally.

It means that he will probably be able to return to competition after the provisional suspension which has already been placed against him is lifted. Contador has been called to a meeting with the federation on Tuesday to be informed of the decision, and it is reported he will be able to compete again from then.

It comes just days after the Spanish Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, expressed his support for the cyclist in a tweet from the Moncloa which said that he considered ‘there is no judicial reason to sanction Contador’.



Read more: http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_29199.shtml#ixzz1DxKJ4oxN


http://www.marca.com/2011/02/14/ciclismo/1297689493.html

 

[Andrija]

Yes. It looks he's cleared for now.
UCI and WADA will appeal, for sure. This could develop in demonstration of power. The case could be dragged longer than initial suspension was meant to last. And, at the end, it could be two years suspension.
Spaniards approached to the case like it was negotiation. First, they offered minimal sentence, and then rejected even that with intention to lower the ambitions and desires of opposite side. The thing is - this is not negotiation. Or to be more precise, you can negotiate about sanction, but not about the guilt. With this abolition, they're including element of guilt in negotiations, and I think that will make UCI and WADA mad.

 

[steve]

Damn thats no good for the sport /img/vbsmilies/smilies/icon13.gif appeals by the UCI and WADA could drag out for years.

 

[swampy1970]

I think the irony here is that'll end up working out worse for Contador. He'll probably miss this years Tour because the UCI will protest and Le Tour will say "fark off Alberto" and have the decision overturned at the end of the year. The ban will probably be extended, retroactively, to two years so he'll miss next year too....

... as well as being stripped of his last Tour title.

Unless, of course, there really is some compelling evidence to suggest otherwise and given that we're all expert armchair hematologists we'll be able to prove otherwise.

 

[slovakguy]

Originally Posted by Andrija .

Yes. It looks he's cleared for now.
UCI and WADA will appeal, for sure. This could develop in demonstration of power. The case could be dragged longer than initial suspension was meant to last. And, at the end, it could be two years suspension.
Spaniards approached to the case like it was negotiation. First, they offered minimal sentence, and then rejected even that with intention to lower the ambitions and desires of opposite side. The thing is - this is not negotiation. Or to be more precise, you can negotiate about sanction, but not about the guilt. With this abolition, they're including element of guilt in negotiations, and I think that will make UCI and WADA mad.

fascinating. first valverde and now contador. this promises only to get better as the weeks drag on. given that mcquaid tried to keep this under wraps after the test came back (wonder if they needed another lab machine at hq and were soliciting donations?) and that he hasn't really pressured the spanish federation too strongly, are we to expect that uci and wada are going to push this very hard at cas? i'm betting this is just the out mcquaid was looking for to preserve his organisation's reputation.

 

[swampy1970]

http://velonews.competitor.com/2011/02/news/report-contador-to-be-cleared-on-doping-charges_159881#

 

[Andrija]

Originally Posted by slovakguy .

fascinating. first valverde and now contador. this promises only to get better as the weeks drag on. given that mcquaid tried to keep this under wraps after the test came back (wonder if they needed another lab machine at hq and were soliciting donations?) and that he hasn't really pressured the spanish federation too strongly, are we to expect that uci and wada are going to push this very hard at cas? i'm betting this is just the out mcquaid was looking for to preserve his organisation's reputation.

Good points.
But I really expect strong appeal from WADA, since they've done the investigation and provided evidences regarding the meat... I think they care about their reputation.
Similarity with Valverde's case is obvious. And, like Swampy mentioned, Contador will probably get the same treatment from ASO.
An appeal, itself, should be enough to keep him out of the Tour.

Moral to riders from Valverde's and Contador's cases could be: accept the guilt and punishment, sooner you do the time - the better.

Maybe all this doping scandals aren't good for the sport, but they're keeping attention of public. With cycling you get full package - sport, competition, scandals... Complete show-biz.

Edit:
Plasticizers test could play significant role if the case starts to drag.

 

[Mattcreed]

If he is actually "innocent" then I can understand to a degree why he wants to fight this but if he's not what an ****, he got off lightly and now is just making the situation potentially worse and I don't think this is going to win him any fans either. If he had just said I'm not guilty but will accept the 1 year ban and come back for the Vuelta and prove I'm the best this would have blown over much quicker and people would have gradually got over and respected him again (like Basso)

 

[swampy1970]

Originally Posted by Andrija .

Plasticizers test could play significant role if the case starts to drag.

But they'll need to get the test validated first for that to happen... The test used was published a month or two ago in a major journal and I'm not sure what the status is on how long it'll be.

To be honest, all that I think will happen is that those who do dope and use will start using glass to store blood instead of bags. There's probably added complications to this but there's probably ways to engineer a way around those.

 

[slovakguy]

Originally Posted by Andrija .
Maybe all this doping scandals aren't good for the sport, but they're keeping attention of public. With cycling you get full package - sport, competition, scandals... Complete show-biz.

and i never thought things would hot up quite so quickly. thanks pat, hein, and all the good folks at reymond & associes! threaten landis that he besmirched your reputations? things just got tougher for the uci if they don't go after contador before the cas now. how can they maintain that they aren't "creat(ing) stars" if they let contador off the hook? yes, andrija, the circus came to town today.

 

[JoelTGM]

so, the stuff that was found in his blood... was this something that could come from anything else besides drugs? it just seems weird that they can't tell if it's illegal drug usage or some meat that he ate. why is it in the meat? sorry I don't read these stories so I don't know what happened other than he was suspected.

 

[Andrija]

Originally Posted by slovakguy .





and i never thought things would hot up quite so quickly. thanks pat, hein, and all the good folks at reymond & associes! threaten landis that he besmirched your reputations? things just got tougher for the uci if they don't go after contador before the cas now. how can they maintain that they aren't "creat(ing) stars" if they let contador off the hook? yes, andrija, the circus came to town today.

The most stupid thing is - they'll all get away with this too.
The only sport body which could put an end to all the farce in cycling is IOC. And they don't look too much interested in doing so. Also, it's needless to mention their inclination to corruption.

I'm glad that public reaction so far has been very sharp. I wonder how colleagues cyclists will react.
Boonen has already expressed his opinion. He grew again in my eyes. Not so much because of opinion, but because of courage to first step out and take a stance. I'm not sure if anyone else will follow his steps.

Public reactions should be clear message to UCI, but they'll take it easy... study the Spaniards' explanation and decide if they'll appeal.
As I mentioned earlier, WADA is the body in which I have confidence.

 

[slovakguy]

and in the ring to my right, ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce to you the spanish meat production association, asoprovac! have to admire their use of the events to demand that contador explain how he got contaminated meat from a spanish vendor. shouldn't be too long before the shop owner steps forward to demand his reputation be restored.

 

[Eldrack]

I was considering weighing in with an opinion on whether or not Contador is a doper but honestly I don't give a **** anymore. Ban him because it'll make the Tour de France more interesting.

 

[limerickman]

What the Spanish Federation say is pointless.
A banned substance was found in his system.
Case closed unless he can prove that the test result was wrong - which he didn't in this case.

Like every other rider who is caught, they will blame their mother/sister/the man down the road/the dog ate my homework.................
It's never them, it's always someone else fault.

In a sport littered with positive test results, Contador like his ex-buddy Armstrong, is an oasis of purity in an ocean of dopage/img/vbsmilies/smilies/rolleyes.gif

 

[slovakguy]

tic toc, tic toc. hey, pat! how's that appeal to cas coming along? i'm betting you just miss the deadline to file because the dog took a pee on it before you could get it in the post.

 

[steve]

Originally Posted by slovakguy .

tic toc, tic toc. hey, pat! how's that appeal to cas coming along? i'm betting you just miss the deadline to file because the dog took a pee on it before you could get it in the post.

Do you know when the appeal deadline is? The whole case is a joke, we're approaching 8 months since he tested positive.

 

[slovakguy]

if i remember correctly, the uci had thirty days from the time the spanish federation delivered their final ruling.

 

[steve]

Originally Posted by slovakguy .

if i remember correctly, the uci had thirty days from the time the spanish federation delivered their final ruling.

Right, thanks mate.

 

[climber_80]

I think that Contador needs to be banned for 2 years and his 2010 Tour Title stripped. If you test positive there is no excuse. The Beef Jerky needs to watch what he eats lol. In my eyes hes a cheater and i can't take him serious anymore.