FEI decision on Rufus/Pessoa

[canyonoak]

http://www.fei.org/Media/News_Centre/News/Pages/summ.aspx?newsName=news-RUFUS-final-3Oct08.aspx

I know this is really Hunter/Jumper, but we have been discussing these cases ever since the Olympic Forum was (naturally) closed...

[slc2]

Why did he get more penalty?

[freestyle2music]

Why did he get more penalty?

This might be the main reason !

the nature of the substance involved which is not only a pain relieving substance, but also an agent that can be used for hypersensitisation purposes;

[YankeeLawyer]

Did anyone read the interim opinion in the Ahlmann case?

http://www.fei.org/Media/News_Centre/News/Documents/20%20-%20COSTER%20-%20Tribunal%20Interim%20Decision%20-%203%20October%2008.pdf

The parties were granted an extension of time to prepare supplemental responses. Ahlmann requested that his suspension be lifted in the meantime, arguing among other things that he had suffered irreparable harm because "a criminal prosecution was opened against him in Germany concerning the alleged presence of blister on the legs of [Coster]." (emphasis mine).

I don't understand why Ahlmann is being skewered. He was the only rider whose national federation threw him under the bus -- and did so even before the results of his B sample were released (by issuing a statement that he would be obliged to pay back all expenses related to his travel, etc to the Olympics and that he would be thrown off the team). He later issued a statement saying that all the German riders had been required, prior to the Games, to put everything they would be using there on a table for inspection, and that he did so with respect to Equi-block and that no one said there was a problem with it.

[slc2]

theo, with the exception of courtney's horse the tests all were positive for that or a similar substance. that's why i'm asking why are some getting treated more severely. what was the difference between the cases.

[canyonoak]

Alves, Ahlmann and Lynch all used Equi-Block and said how/why they used it, on their horses' backs.
Hansen is sticking with accidental/environmental contamination.

As FEI seems to be treating them as 'medication cases', same as CKD, this gives them hope.

Pessoa was found to be using nonivamide, some rather more esoteric version of the capsaicin family..and I'm guessing not quite so easy to come by in a tack shop as ,say, Equi-Block.

[Ambrey]

So basically for him the "environmental contaminants" thing went out the window?

[canyonoak]

I think nonivamide is specifically different enough from the capsaicin used in feeds/sprays/etc.

[Ambrey]

I think nonivamide is specifically different enough from the capsaicin used in feeds/sprays/etc.

That makes the entire decision seem much more logical.

[YankeeLawyer]

No one else finds it odd that a criminal prosecution has been commenced against Ahlmann????

[slc2]

I think maybe the public wasn't told everything about that one.

[greyshowjumper]

I understand that what he did was wrong intentionally or not, but I think it is ironic that his punishment is harsher than what Amy Tryon received for not pulling up an obvious hurt/lame horse. Trying to make a statement through a well renowned rider?????

[YankeeLawyer]

I think maybe the public wasn't told everything about that one.

Or maybe he is being railroaded. The FEI certainly did not hold back in their early condemnation -- before B samples were ready -- of the implicated riders generally, nor did the German Federation, which issued a scathing statement early on.

[canyonoak]

<< No one else finds it odd that a criminal prosecution has been commenced against Ahlmann????>>

Rantzau, the head of the FN, is ALSO on the FEI Drug Committee. I am sure he was one of the guiding forces behind the strange contract wherein the results of the GERMAN pre-event drug tests were told only to him and the vet, NOT riders/owners,etc.
Rantzau and Haring as well (FN, heavy ties to FEI too) have been incredibly --and publically-- insistent that AHlmann tried to blister his horses' legs, and demanded he be thrown off the German team, be forced to pay back every cent the FN spent to send him and the horse to Hong Kong, etc etc etc.

Ahlmann, fighting for his professional life, has pointed out that his case is only Medication A case, just like everyone else--NOT drugs/dope. But that was not enough for Rantzau et al.

SO Ahlmann has sued the German FN in a court in Dortmund and that is supposed to go to trial early next week, I think.

The last I read/babelfish translated, the FN wanted to drop its suit and get Ahlmann to drop his, but Ahlmann refused.

[poltroon]

Pessoa's case is different because of the different substance. It also happened in a later test, during the individual rather than the team. I'm not clear on who was tested during what phase of the event... for example, was he tested during the team?

And I don't know if it's for or against him that his teammate had a positive for capsaicin.

The FEI was pretty emphatic about "poor control practices" - this in contrast to what they said about Courtney.

Here is the Wikipedia article on nonivamide:
Nonivamide is an organic compound and a capsaicinoid. It is an amide of pelargonic acid and vanillylamine. It is present in chili peppers, but is commonly manufactured synthetically. It is more heat-stable than capsaicin.

Nonivamide is used as a food additive to add pungency to seasonings, flavorings, and spice blends. It is also used in confectionary industry to create hot sensation, and in the pharmaceutical industry in some formulations.

As a potent lachrymatory agent, nonivamide finds use as the active ingredient of some oleoresin capsicum-based riot control agents (pepper spray).

Nonivamide is also known as pseudocapsaicin and has just one fewer carbon molecule than capsaicin.

[YankeeLawyer]

<< No one else finds it odd that a criminal prosecution has been commenced against Ahlmann????>>

Rantzau, the head of the FN, is ALSO on the FEI Drug Committee. I am sure he was one of the guiding forces behind the strange contract wherein the results of the GERMAN pre-event drug tests were told only to him and the vet, NOT riders/owners,etc.
Rantzau and Haring as well (FN, heavy ties to FEI too) have been incredibly --and publically-- insistent that AHlmann tried to blister his horses' legs, and demanded he be thrown off the German team, be forced to pay back every cent the FN spent to send him and the horse to Hong Kong, etc etc etc.

Ahlmann, fighting for his professional life, has pointed out that his case is only Medication A case, just like everyone else--NOT drugs/dope. But that was not enough for Rantzau et al.

SO Ahlmann has sued the German FN in a court in Dortmund and that is supposed to go to trial early next week, I think.

The last I read/babelfish translated, the FN wanted to drop its suit and get Ahlmann to drop his, but Ahlmann refused.

Right, and I am wondering about the timing of the criminal charges and who reported Ahlmann to the German authorities. In other words, is the criminal prosecution a retaliatory sideshow?

BTW, there is no small amount of pressure on the riders to accept an adverse ruling from the FEI in order to get their suspensions lifted as soon as possible. If you fight them, they can impose a harsher punishment, or at the very least impose a prolonged suspension pending appeal. Hence the number of opinions in which the FEI states it believes the rider was not at fault, but under their rules they are obliged to impose some (often small) sanction. That's the compromise.

[MEP]

No one else finds it odd that a criminal prosecution has been commenced against Ahlmann????

I think it's totally appalling, and like others here have said, I wonder why they're trying to skewer this guy.

About Pessoa, they have given him a 4+/- month suspension, and said in the decision that even though he's got a great reputation, they felt his barn management policies were perhaps a little loose.

the fact that several of the PR's suggestions regarding the presence of the substance reveal poor stable management for this level of Event; and
- the fact that the actions taken by the team to control all possibilities of contamination and actions taken following the positive finding to reveal its source were not at the same level as established by other teams at the same or similar events.

Yet they also said they took into account:

- the impeccable record and reputation of the PR;
- the PR's assistance in the finalization of this matter and the efforts of the PR’s legal team to bring this matter to a relatively quick resolution;
- and the fact that the substance is a newly detectable substance which is often used by riders for legitimate therapeutic reasons.


I just find the whole situation brought about under the current rules mind boggling - it is not catching those bad guys who are cheating (assuming that there are people competing at that level who are trying to break the rules), and it is dragging down both the sport and individual competitors. :confused:

[canyonoak]

<< Right, and I am wondering about the timing of the criminal charges and who reported Ahlmann to the German authorities. In other words, is the criminal prosecution a retaliatory sideshow?>>

Remember oh two weeks or so ago when there was a chance that the FEI might lift the suspensions?

Rantzau and the FN went slightly crazy and announced (trumpted) that if the FEI could not take care of business, the FN could and would--and started their own legal proceedings against Ahlmann.

Ahlmann then went on the offensive and gave a press conference in which he spoke about the strange drug tests that no one was given the results of AND he waved some Equi-Block around (there are loads of photos online) and insisted that this had been in the kit he put out for inspection by the FN representatives BEFORE leaving for Hong Kong.

The FN then demanded that Ahlmann stop making statements in public...Ahlmann and his owner/sponsor refused. Instead, they turned around and sued the FN for various matters all pertaining to this situation.

That is about the timeline as I understand it.

What I do NOT understand is...why the FEI, no matter what the pressure from the idiotic WADA etc., chose these Olympics for this ridiculous and rather pathetic 'drug-hunting' expedition in Equestrian sport.

The PR has been uniformly dreadfully negative for equestrian; the inept procedurals have been uniformly bad for everyone, sponsors, riders,federations; and nothing much is getting accomplished that will HELP get rid of serious drug offenders and make horse welfare any better.

2004 was bad enough--when Ludger Beerbaum was disqualified over oinjtment for a boot rub and lost the team gold for Germany AND the real drug offender, Cian O' Connor, had his distasteful case grind to a halt when his B drug samples were somehow magically STOLEN from the federation office where they were housed.

Instead of learning anything useful in the past 4 years, FEI has grown ever more inept and incompetent on every front.

Way to go, FEI!!!

[YankeeLawyer]

Remember oh two weeks or so ago when there was a chance that the FEI might lift the suspensions?

Rantzau and the FN went slightly crazy and announced (trumpted) that if the FEI could not take care of business, the FN could and would--and started their own legal proceedings against Ahlmann.

Those are the civil proceedings, though. Criminal proceedings are brought by the government. Also, I thought Ahlmann was the first to sue, and Rantzau/the FN was either a counter suit or separate action brought in response, essentially.