News
Guerdat and Bichsel cleared of wrongdoing by FEI
Sep 28, 2015
Swiss Jumping riders Steve Guerdat and Alessandra Bichsel, whose horses tested positive for Prohibited Substances earlier this year, have been cleared of any wrongdoing following separate legal agreements with the FEI. The agreements, in which the FEI accepts that the positives were caused by poppy seed contamination, have been independently approved by the FEI Tribunal.
Under the terms of the agreements, there are no sanctions against either Guerdat or Bichsel other than the automatic disqualification of the horses’ results at the events where they tested positive in accordance with Article 9 and Article 10.1.4 of the FEI Equine Anti-Doping (EAD) Rules.
Samples taken from the horse Nino des Buissonnets, ridden by Guerdat, at the La Baule CSIO5* in France on 17 May returned positive for the banned substances Codeine and Oripavine and the controlled medication substance Morphine. Samples taken from the horse Nasa (FEI ID FRA45675), also ridden by Guerdat, at the same event on 16 May returned positive for the banned substance Codeine and the controlled medication substance Morphine. The sample from Nasa also showed traces of Oripavine, but not at a sufficiently high level for the testing laboratory to declare a positive.
Samples taken from the horse Charivari KG (FEI ID 102ZB26), ridden by Bichsel, at the CSIOY (Young Riders) in Deauville (FRA) on 8 May also returned positive for the same three substances, Codeine, Oripavine and Morphine.
The two athletes, Guerdat and Bichsel, were notified of the positives by the FEI on 20 July and were both provisionally suspended. The three horses were also provisionally suspended for a two-month period.