The lawyer for Peter Bol has drawn from the findings of two independent laboraties to drop a bombshell, declaring neither the A sample nor B sample contained any synthetic EPO.
Bol’s US-based lawyer, Paul Greene, delivered a letter to Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) last week insisting the governing body was “completely wrong” about the Australian 800-metre runner and demanding its investigation must “publicly end”.
The two independent tests — one was carried out by a doctor at the University of British Columbia and the other by four experts in Norway — sensationally indicate that Bol’s A sample and B sample should both have been deemed negative, meaning no ban, ongoing investigation, mental anguish nor tainting of reputation.
READ MORE: Socceroos taught ‘great lesson’ by Ecuador
READ MORE: V’landys open to unprecedented NRL GF move
READ MORE: Cleary comment to set ‘thuggish’ NRL on edge
Greene said in his letter to SIA that the independent tests showed “an incorrect determination” by the Australian Sports Drug Test Laboratory (ASDTL) was caused by “inexperience and incompetence”.
As Bol and Greene crossed live to Nine’s Today show simultaneously on Wednesday morning, Greene said the ASDTL investigators “just couldn’t … get it right” and “had no idea what they were doing”.
“And the worst part of it now is, one, it was announced, first of all, which never should have been. I begged them not to announce it,” Greene added.
“Two, now they just … obviously are wrong.
“They are refusing to drop the sham investigation. They have no evidence at all at this point as to any wrongdoing. People cannot be convicted under the World Anti-Doping Code system, or any system, on shadows and whispers; they have to have evidence. There is none.”
“My primary goal right now is to get them to publicly admit what is obvious,” he said.
“If anyone looks at those reports, we have two of the most world-class analytical chemists in the world look at his results and say this wasn’t even a close call. These were just negative tests.
“These WADA labs …. they don’t have the expertise to understand this particular test.
“It’s not a straightforward analysis, it isn’t like a normal exam or test or looking at a urine substance where it is clearly in there and it’s synthetic.”
According to Greene, Bol is in the clear.
“There is nothing to investigate. They have no evidence,” Greene said.
“There is no urine sample positive. There is no evidence he took anything in his urine. It’s 100 per cent negative.
“There was nothing on his phone. There is nothing on his computer.
“There’s absolutely zero evidence.
“They (Sport Integrity Australia) just need to say, ‘We have no evidence, we messed this up, this was a mistake’.”
Bol was provisionally suspended when he returned a positive A sample for EPO on January 14, the result of an out-of-competition urine test taken on October 11.
But the Australian men’s 800-metre record-holder was cleared to resume racing, and training with his team, when his B sample did not match the A sample.
Despite being cleared to return, SIA released a statement saying Bol was still being investigated, which Athletics Australia supported in its own statement. SIA’s reasoning was Bol’s B sample had produced an atypical finding, which is neither positive nor negative.
Erythropoietin, more commonly known as EPO, is produced by the kidneys, but a synthetic form is a blood-boosting substance used by some endurance athletes wishing to gain an unfair competitive advantage.
The expert opinions from the University of British Columbia and professors in Norway “conclude that the naturally occurring EPO present in Mr Bol’s October 11, 2022 sample was mistaken for synthetic EPO because of fatal errors in the testing process”, Greene said in his letter to SIA.
“The lab failed to understand that Mr Bol’s symmetric band indicated the presence of uEPO (natural EPO) only and not a mixed band that contained both natural EPO and synthetic EPO,” Green said in his letter to SIA.
“The lab incorrectly overlooked the very strong uEPO (natural EPO) intensity in Bol’s sample which indicate there was no rEPO (synthetic EPO) use.”
Greene added that “this was not even a close call”.
“Instead, this was a blunder of epic proportions,” he added.
“The results as presented for both the A sample and B sample showed negative results for rEPO.”
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!
Tokyo Olympics 2021: A Games like no other comes to a close with explosive closing ceremony
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
