05/05/2020   The Swiss Federal Court dismisses Schwazer's appeal






 

 

 

The endless story of Alex Schwazer is enriched with a new chapter.

 

The Swiss Federal Court based in Lausanne has in fact rejected the request to cancel the eight-year disqualification suffered in summer 2016 - the second of his career - for a testosterone positivity at a surprise check on January 1 of the same year.

 

The athlete and his entourage had from the first moment declared the estrangement from this positivity (while in 2012 the fact had been immediately admitted). Consequently, they had appealed at the time against Wada and IAAF (today World Athletics) up to TAS with the aim of participating in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.

 

After the Tas had in turn rejected the appeal, the lawyers of the Olympic champion of the 50 km of Beijing 2008 had turned to the Swiss court, which had already rejected a request for suspension.

 

The sentence, as revealed by the Ticino newspaper "La Regione", is dated 17 March and was published a few days ago. The judges did not accept the defensive thesis according to which, after the disqualification, evidence emerged that would call it into question. The eight year stop will expire in the summer of 2024, when Schwazer will be 39 years old. 

 

The legal team that assists the athlete is however confident that he can come out on top in the courtroom. It all depends on the outcome of the doping process under way in the Bolzano court and in particular of the expert report set for 30 June.

If favorable to the athlete, it would allow the lawyers to reopen the case in Lausanne with consolidated evidence.