International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) v. Yunder Beytula

At a glance

Parties

International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), acting through the International Testing Agency (ITA), v. Yunder Beytula (Bulgarian weightlifter)

Case no.

CAS 2022/ADD/49

Forum and rules

Court of Arbitration for Sport, Anti-Doping Division (first instance); CAS ADD Arbitration Rules; 2019 and 2021 IWF Anti-Doping Rules

Tribunal

Ken Lalo (Sole Arbitrator)

Sector

Sport: weightlifting (doping)

Outcome

Request upheld (7 November 2023). Three anti-doping rule violations found: tampering, refusal to submit to sample collection and presence of hGH. Sanction: eight years' ineligibility, followed consecutively by a lifetime ban. Results from 7 October 2019 to 10 June 2021 disqualified.

Amount

The ITA asked for a fine of USD 5,000. No fine was imposed. The costs section is redacted in the published award.

The dispute

Yunder Beytula is a Bulgarian international-level weightlifter. The IWF sanctioned him in 2014 with two years' ineligibility for anabolic steroids. The ITA, acting for the IWF, charged him with three violations. First, from October 2019 he kept his ADAMS whereabouts address at his parents' house in Feldfebel Denkovo although he lived in Dobrich, so his parents could warn him of no-advance-notice tests about 45 minutes ahead; he did this despite repeated instructions from the Doping Control Officer to update the address (Article 2.5, 2019 IWF ADR). Second, on 29 December 2020 he closed his apartment door on the Doping Control Officer and the Doping Control Assistant and did not provide a sample (Article 2.3). Third, while provisionally suspended, a blood sample taken on 1 July 2021 tested positive for human growth hormone (Article 2.1, 2021 IWF ADR). In his replies to the charges, the athlete said he had moved only in December 2020, that he was alone with his sick, sleeping child on 29 December, and that the hGH finding might be due to a testing defect or natural production. He took no part in the CAS ADD proceedings.

Key holdings

1. Tampering established. The athlete knowingly filed false whereabouts information on several consecutive occasions, despite the Doping Control Officer's advice to correct it. This defeated no-advance-notice testing. Doping Control includes the provision of whereabouts information, so the conduct falls within Article 2.5 of the 2019 IWF ADR. ¶¶ 88–93
2. Refusal or failure to submit to sample collection established. The athlete recognised the officers, understood he had been notified of an out-of-competition test, and closed the door. A possibly waking child was no compelling justification. The Sole Arbitrator accepted that the officers returned an hour later and that the door was not opened and their calls were not answered. ¶¶ 102–103
3. Presence of hGH established. hGH is a non-specified substance, the B-sample confirmed the A-sample, and the athlete had no Therapeutic Use Exemption. His suggestion of a testing defect or natural production was unsupported. The violation is one of strict liability. ¶¶ 108–113
4. The tampering and refusal violations were notified together. They count as one single second violation. The athlete did not show they were unintentional, so the four-year period under Article 10.3.1 is doubled to eight years under Article 10.7.1(c) of the 2019 IWF ADR. ¶¶ 115–122
5. The hGH violation is a third violation, committed after notification and during provisional suspension. It carries lifetime ineligibility under Article 10.9.1.2 of the 2021 IWF ADR, to run consecutively to the eight-year period. The athlete receives credit for his provisional suspension from 10 June 2021. ¶¶ 127–134
6. All competitive results from 7 October 2019 to 10 June 2021 are disqualified, including forfeiture of medals, points and prizes. The requested USD 5,000 fine is refused: a fine is not mandatory, and it is not warranted on top of a lifetime ban. ¶¶ 139, 142

Procedural history

1. 7 October 2019 – 25 November 2019Three out-of-competition tests at the declared whereabouts address. Each time the athlete arrived from Dobrich about 45 minutes after the officers came.
2. 29 December 2020The athlete closes his door on the Doping Control Officer and the Doping Control Assistant, and no sample is collected.
3. 10 June 2021The ITA notifies the tampering and refusal charges. The athlete has been provisionally suspended since this date.
4. 1 July 2021Out-of-competition blood and urine samples are collected. The Cologne laboratory reports hGH on 19 July 2021, and the B-sample confirms it on 30 September 2021.
5. 17 June 2022The IWF files its Request for Arbitration with the CAS ADD.
6. 1 July 2022Ken Lalo is appointed Sole Arbitrator. No hearing is held, and the athlete files no answer.
7. 7 November 2023Award: request upheld. The athlete receives eight years' ineligibility plus a consecutive lifetime ban.

Tribunal, counsel and experts

Decided by

• Ken Lalo Sole arbitrator, CAS Anti-Doping Division — appointed by the institution

Experts

Martin Bidlingmaier (claimant)

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Keywords

• anti-doping rule violation
• weightlifting
• human growth hormone
• hGH
• tampering
• whereabouts
• ADAMS
• refusal to submit to sample collection
• no advance notice testing
• strict liability
• third violation
• lifetime ineligibility
• consecutive periods of ineligibility
• disqualification of results
• IWF Anti-Doping Rules
• CAS Anti-Doping Division
• International Testing Agency
• compelling justification

Summary generated with AI from the published documents — refer to the award for the authoritative text.