The announcement came after a statement from the German Anti-Doping Agency (NADA): no testing of the “residual” urine from the April 26 test – the so-called “third tube” – because its analysis does not comply with the procedures of the WADA Code and because there is no proper chain of custody.
Schwazer had set that exam (the so-called “third tube”) as an essential prerequisite for proceeding with the analysis of B sample, which NADA Germany had scheduled for July 6 in Cologne at 10 o’clock.
With that guarantee gone, his response was clear: “Alex Schwazer, as already announced, will forgo the B sample analysis because he has no confidence in the tests carried out, precisely at the same institution, already implicated in various irregularities related to doping controls in 2016, as per the order of the Bolzano Court/GIP following the preliminary investigation proceedings initiated there, which speaks of a finding with a high degree of rational credibility of tampering with Alex Schwazer’s urine samples to make them test positive” the statement reads.
The race walker’s lawyer, Gerhard Brandstätter, has already requested documentation of the evidence and announced “appropriate measures” to protect the athlete and, as the statement states, “reserves appropriate measures to seek the truth.“
Following the documentation submitted today by Nado Italia, which announced that Nada Germany had issued a precautionary suspension against the athlete, the Italian Federation today announced that it had implemented Schwazer’s suspension “in compliance with current anti-doping regulations” and emphasized that it would not comment further on the matter and that any comments made by cardmembers are made in a private capacity.