As is known, last July during the European Fencing Championship in Kiev (Ukraine), the doping sample test taken from Baldini revealed the presence of markers of a prohibited substance, namely furosemide. As a result, the Italian foilsman, who was a world ranking leader at that time and had secured his participation in the 2008 Olympics, was expelled from the Games participants and replaced by Andrea Cassara (Italy), who dropped out of the competitions during the quarterfinal in Beijing.

Baldini himself denies having taken prohibited substances and does not admit his guilt. Baldini’s representative claimed the athlete had not used in any form whatsoever the prohibited product later detected in his doping sample. As he said, this preparation could have been purposely added to his bottle with water which later was offered to the athlete. By doing so, the wrongdoer sought to eliminate Baldini from the participants of the Beijing Olympics. However, the Italian side could not present any evidence of the athlete’s innocence.

The hearing resulted in a 6-month ineligibility of Andrea Baldini with effect from September 3, 2008 (the date on which the athlete was suspended from competitions) until March 3, 2009. Thus, at present the illegibility period for Baldini has expired, and if the decision of the FIE Commission is approved by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), he will be able to take part in the international competitions already during this season.

The decision on Baldini’s disqualification also implies that his gold medal won in the team foil tournament during the 2008 European Championship in Kiev will be forfeited. Together with Baldini, his teammates Stefano Barrera, Andrea Cassara and Salvatore Sanzo will be stripped of their awards, and their gold medals will be given to the Polish fencers, namely Tomasz Cieply, Radoslaw Glonek, Michal Majewski and Slawomir Mocek, who, being the members of the national team of Poland, competed with the Italians in the final of the men’s foil tournament of the 2008 European Championship. The prize fund will be redistributed too: the men’s national foil team of Italy is to return the received amount of 10,000 euros to the financial officer of the European Fencing Confederation, the Executive Committee of which will take the final decision on its redistribution.

The hearing of the FIE Anti-Doping Commission on Andrea Baldini’s case lasted more than an hour and a half. The following members of this Commission took part in this hearing: FIE Vice-President Ana Pascu (Romania), Member of the FIE Executive Committee Emmanuel Katsiadakis (Greece), Member of the FIE Medical Commission George Ruijsch van Dugteren (South Africa) and FIE Chief Executive Officer Nathalie Rodriguez (Mexico). A lawyer specializing in anti-doping issues and FIE Secretary General Maxim Paramonov (Ukraine) were also invited to the hearing. The latter gave the following comments on the decision taken:

– The cases of using prohibited substances in our sport are extremely rare. Moreover, it is absolutely unclear what could urge the fencer, who had already ensured his participation in the Olympics, to use doping drugs during the competitions of no relevance for him. However, the fact of detection of the prohibited substances in the athlete’s doping sample is evident. Hence due to the lack of evidence presented by the Italian fencer the Commission had to pass a fairly tough verdict. At the same time, such decision allows the athlete to return to the elite sport within a short period and try to demonstrate his exceptional talent in the future tournaments.

REFERENCE

Andrea Baldini (Italy)

Born on December 19, 1985. A foilsman.

2008 World Champion in team competitions. Silver medal winner of the 2006 and 2007 World Championships in individual competitions and the 2005 World Championship in team competitions. Bronze medal winner of the 2006 World Championship in team competitions.

World Cup Winner in the season of 2006-2007. Winner of Junior’s Cup in the season of 2003-2004.

2007 European Champion in individual competitions and 2005 European Champion in team competitions. Bronze medal winner of the 2005 European Championship in individual competitions and the 2007 European Championship in team competitions.