FEI standing firm as Kürten goes on the attack
On Monday, she posted a statement on her website headlined “Turning point in ‘doping case’.” Big on outrage, but scant on detail, it took her lawyer Ulf Walz to explain the following day that he had evidence suggesting blood samples taken from the mare had tested negative for the banned substance etoricoxib.
He also said they were unaware the blood samples had been tested and, coming on the FEI’s decision to bar Kürten’s representative from witnessing the analysis last year, it demonstrated that the FEI had afforded the rider “as much rights as the prisoners in Guantanamo”.
Walz said he had received documentation containing a witness statement from the Paris laboratory, Laboratoire des Courses Hippiques (LCH), that showed “the blood samples tested negative”.
He also cast doubt on the validity of the urine samples taken from the 14-year-old mare, who was tested in La Baule, France, last May.
“We have made a submission to the FEI and I assume they will drop the case, because they do not have enough evidence. If not, we will go to the CAS [Court of Arbitration for Sport] and I am sure we will win,” said Dr Walz, who also said a request in January by the FEI for himself and Kürten to sign a non-disclosure agreement was “illegal”.
Was the FEI cowed into submission by this latest broadside? Not a chance. It considered its position on Tuesday and, on Wednesday, said it intended proceeding with its prosecution of the case.
Communications manager Malina Gueorguiev said the FEI’s policy precluded it from commenting on specific cases, but she reiterated that both urine samples taken from Maike had tested positive.
An open and shut case? Difficult to tell at this stage. Undoubtedly, the FEI will not want to go to CAS, but I suspect it will if it feels compelled to.
Likewise, Kürten also seems not for turning. Etoricoxib — a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug — is classified at the lowest level on the FEI scale. As such, the FEI, under its fast-track system, offered Kürten the option of a minor sanction of 750 Swiss francs and forfeiture of her €22,000 prize for winning the grand prix last May at La Baule. She turned it down, as it would have meant accepting culpability.
Thus, with both sides entrenched, there may be many more fences to jump before this contest reaches its conclusion.
Meanwhile, though, the Antrim woman leads the Olympic rankings and is practically assured of claiming a place in Hong Kong. It is worth remembering, though, that while the rider wins the place for Ireland, it is the task of the selectors to decide who goes. If the Antrim woman gets the nod, she will not want to bid for a medal with the cloud of a drugs case hanging over her.
l“IN the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep.”
The opening lines of the book of Genesis sprung to mind this week following the decision of Horse Sport Ireland to engage the management consultancy group of the same name to draw up a strategic plan.
While the equine industry may not be quite formless and shrouded in darkness, HSI chief executive Damian McDonald believes an independent agency is essential if the miracle of creation is to be achieved.
“We must have a strategic plan and have it done in a structured way. We tendered for it and are happy enough we got a competitive price,” he said.
The three-to-five-year plan will be compiled in four phases over the next four to five months, with Genesis working alongside a management team set up by HSI.
It is planned that by phase three a draft plan will be published on the HSI website for viewing and comments. A copy will also be submitted to the Irish Sports Council, the Department of Sport and the Department of Agriculture.
McDonald said Genesis would meet its affiliates, sub-boards and interested parties over the next few months. He also said advertisements would be put in the equestrian media seeking submissions from the public.
The day of judgment is expected “some time in the middle of the year”, when the board will approve the plan.
Hopefully, there will be no repentance in the coming years, but it is wise to remember that Genesis is most famous in Irish sport for compiling its eponymous report for the FAI following the debacle that ensued at Saipan during the 2002 World Cup.
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