‘More questions than answers’ in drug saga

EFI president Avril Doyle said there were “more questions than answers” arising out of Waterford Crystal’s missing ‘B’ sample. With the help of Prof Michael Lambert, a member of the FEI Medications Sub-committee and one of the few FEI officials prepared to comment yesterday, Noel Baker tries to answer a few of them.

Q. Who has overall responsibility for the testing of 'A' and 'B' samples?

A. The International Equestrian Federation (FEI), based in Lausanne in Switzerland.

Q. Who takes the initial sample?

A. The sample was taken by a veterinary surgeon in Athens. He would place a code number on the samples. At no time is the horse or its rider identified on the sample.

Q. Who knows that a particular code number refers to a specific horse?

A. Certain FEI officials and the veterinarian. "The only person who would know, I assume, would be the veterinarian at the event, as he's the one who gives the number to it. People in the FEI would have to know because if there is a positive result they have to know which horse it relates to. The number on the sheet that goes back to the FEI.

"The people in the lab don't know. They're not even sure sometimes where it comes from or which event it's from.

"The Medication Committee does not know which horse is which. We don't want to know and if we did know the whole thing would be dropped."

Q. What kind of samples are taken?

A. Usually a urine and a blood sample is taken. Sometimes you can't get urine, but usually they would take both.

Q. Which is preferable?

A. "The urine is the one the laboratories prefer. Once you've got (a banned substance) in the urine, you've got a positive sample. Everything ends up in a urine sample. Historically, we've always looked at urine."

Q. Are 'A' and 'B' samples taken at the same time?

A. Yes. "Say they take 500mls of urine they split it in half in front of a representative of the rider. It's the same urine, it's just split into two bottles."

Q. What happens then?

A. The samples would have gone to the reference laboratory the Medication Control Programme Central Laboratory in Paris. "It does all the FEI samples. (The sample) could go that night or maybe the next day, I assume by courier."

Q. Once an 'A' sample has tested positive, does the rider have the option of deciding where the 'B' sample is tested?

A. Yes. "You're given a list of laboratories that would be acceptable to the FEI and he picks one of them."

Q. Why does the testing pattern change between 'A' and 'B' sample?

A. Once the 'A' sample was found to have tested positive for a banned substance, O'Connor's team then asked for a 'B' sample test. They can propose a location for that test, to be overseen by their own witnessing analyst. O'Connor chose the Horseracing Forensics Laboratory in Fordham, Cambridgeshire.

Q. What is a witnessing analyst?

A. "It's a representative of the rider they can go and watch the 'B' samples being opened and analysed. It's to make it all above board and fair."

Q. It seems the 'B' blood sample went to Hong Kong, while the 'B' urine sample went missing. Would the blood sample and the urine sample be split up or must they be couriered together?

A. "I know nothing about that whole section. Once you've detected (a banned substance) in the urine, it's unusual to use the blood as well. The blood is not discarded until the case is finished."

Q. Why was the FEI told the 'B' sample would have to be tested elsewhere?

B. The Fordham lab said they would not be in a position to commence testing on the sample within the regulation 21 days. The FEI then decided Hong Kong should take over the testing.

Q. What courier company carried the sample?

A. No firm answer, but the FEI typically uses the larger courier companies.

Q. When a package is delivered to a lab, is it common practice to check that everything is present and correct?

A. "Usually if you get anything from a courier you would take it in and then it would be opened and registered on your system. All laboratories would give (a sample) an internal laboratory number. Every laboratory has its own system, but I would assume it would be done fairly quickly."

Q. How long do the laboratories have to test a 'B' sample?

A. The labs must commence testing a sample within 21 days. According to EFI president Avril Doyle, that time elapses on November 8. After that date, the EFI contends, that is the end of due process.

Q. What happens now?

A. The Equestrian Federation of Ireland has called for an urgent meeting with the FEI and is demanding answers. Criminal investigations proceeding in Cambridgeshire and Lausanne, in addition to a FEI internal probe.

"This case is weird," Prof Lambert said. "There are so many things that are happening that don't make sense."