Contador ban a ‘good day for clean athletes’

The banning of Spanish cyclist Alberto Contador for a doping offence was a “good day for all the clean athletes of the world”, World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) president John Fahey said yesterday.

Contador, 29, has protested his innocence over the two-year doping ban, imposed this week by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and has insisted he will return to cycling stronger than ever.

“My reaction is to say this is a good day for all the clean athletes of the world,” Fahey said yesterday.

“A court has made a decision that in this case a very high profile athlete is a drug cheat and that reassures the clean athletes and including clean cyclists that the unfair advantage that comes from cheats is being eliminated, maybe slowly, but it’s being eliminated.”

Contador was found guilty of doping after testing positive for clenbuterol during the 2010 Tour.

He has been stripped of his 2010 Tour de France victory and, with his suspension running until August 5, will miss this year’s Tour and the Olympics.

His lawyers are considering an appeal which must be lodged within 30 days.