In trying to put this particular case to bed, this ruling opens a huge new can of worms.
The press release says
WADA recognizes that, in rare cases, athletes may exceed the decision limit concentration (of 1200 ng of Salbutamol per ml of urine) without exceeding the maximum inhaled dose. This is precisely why the Prohibited List allows for athletes that exceed the decision limit to demonstrate, typically through a controlled pharmacokinetic study (CPKS) as permitted by the Prohibited List, that the relevant concentration is compatible with a permissible, inhaled dose.
In Mr. Froome’s case, WADA accepts that a CPKS would not have been practicable as it would not have been possible to adequately recreate the unique circumstances that preceded the 7 September doping control (e.g. illness, use of medication, chronic use of Salbutamol at varying doses over the course of weeks of high intensity competition).
Therefore, having carefully reviewed Mr. Froome’s explanations and taking into account the unique circumstances of his case, WADA accepts that:
- the sample result is not inconsistent with an ingestion of Salbutamol within the permitted maximum inhaled dose;
- an adequate CPKS is not practicable; and
- the sample may be considered not to be an AAF.
So they are saying that he's not going to be banned, because it's
possible that he took a legal number of puffs and returned that urine sample. Not certain (as the CPKS would have demonstrated), not even probable, just possible. This is not in line with how this rule has been applied previously - it has always been that if you exceeded the limit in a test, you had to prove your innocence. There have been 11 athletes in the UK who have tested above the limit for Salbutamol in the last 10 years - all have been given bans. There are a number of professional cyclists likewise. Are their bans now null and void, because despite the urine concentration it was
possible for them to have been within the permitted dose?
Who should Pettachi and Ulissi (and anyone else who was banned for Salbutamol) be suing?
Can open, worms everywhere.