World anti-doping body monitoring the case closely
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Director General of the WADA, David Howman(Image credit: AFP)
WADA President John Fajey (l) and Director General David Howman earlier this year.(Image credit: AFP)
Alberto Contador made an emotional plea of innocence during his press conference(Image credit: AFP)
The World Anti-Doping Agency director general David Howman has dismissed Alberto Contador's claims that his positive test for Clenbuterol at this year’s Tour de France was caused by contaminated meat bought in Spain.
Speaking to journalists during a meeting at the WADA headquarters in Montreal, Howman pointed out that the contaminated meat excuse has been used in the past but rejected during anti-doping hearings.
"It's been raised before, it's been heard in a couple of cases and rejected," Howman told the Reuters news agency. "It's not unusual.”
"The issue is, can you prove it? It's a pretty hard thing to prove that is where it (the banned substance) comes from.”
"The tribunal will make a decision and I'm comfortable with that."
A hearing date
WADA is reportedly monitoring the Contador case very closely and is ready to step in if a disciplinary hearing is not arranged swiftly by the UCI and the Spanish Cycling Federation.
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"It took a year to set the Landis hearing up the first time around," Howman said.
"If we were concerned about the results management system and that there was procrastination we can take it straight to CAS and say: 'this is wrong'.
"The issue for us is when will they have a hearing?
"At some stage somebody is going to have to say, 'here is the hearing date'."
Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.
