Kurten to miss Olympia after CAS rejects appeal
As a result, the German-based Antrim rider must serve out the three weeks remaining in the suspension — which was put on hold in July by CAS — while also paying 10,000 Swiss francs (€6,351) towards the FEI’s legal fees and expenses.
The ruling means Kurten will miss next week’s lucrative World Cup show in London’s Olympia, with the suspension recommencing on Tuesday and running until January 6.
The decision came after Kurten and her legal team and a number of experts appeared before a CAS panel in Lausanne on Tuesday.
It is a blow to the 39-year-old, who had fought hard to prove her innocence.
Her husband Eckard last night said she was now concentrating on competing in Geneva, where Kurten is bidding for her first World Cup points.
Her lawyer Monika Gattiker said Kurten was very disappointed, adding “she never felt she got the chance to prove the horse was not treated with the substance etoricoxib”.
Castle Forbes Maike — which has since been sold — tested positive for the non-steroidal anti-inflamatory etoricoxib at La Baule, France, in May 2007.
It is classified as a prohibited medication, with the FEI initially offering Kurten a relatively small fine of 750 Swiss francs, along with forfeiture of prizemoney, including the €22,000 she pocketed for winning the La Baule grand prix.
However, the current world number five show jumper rejected the offer and opted to go before an FEI tribunal.
She then turned down this option and subsequently appealed the finding of the tribunal to CAS, all the time maintaining her innocence.
Kurten also requested that CAS put a stay on the suspension while adjudicating on the case. Initially CAS rejected this, but acceded to a subsequent request just over half way through the suspension. Kurten made the most of this, earning €300,000 for her win in the Global Champions Tour final in Sao Paulo.
A main element of Kurten’s appeal to CAS was that her analyst was refused the opportunity to witness the testing of a B sample.
However, CAS rejected her request that a “neutral and scientifically reliable expert opinion on the test method and the test procedure be obtained”.
It also rejected her request that the sanction be reduced to a warning.
