World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) v. Finnish Center for Integrity in Sports (FINCIS), Miro Sihvonen

At a glance

Parties

World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) v. Finnish Center for Integrity in Sports (FINCIS) and Miro Sihvonen

Case no.

CAS 2025/A/11339

Forum and rules

Court of Arbitration for Sport, appeals procedure (Article R47 et seq. of the CAS Code, 2023 edition)

Treaty

Finland's Anti-Doping Rules (ADR); 2024 WADA Prohibited List

Tribunal

Jacques Radoux (Sole Arbitrator)

Sector

Motocross; anti-doping

Outcome

WADA's appeal partially upheld (27 November 2025). The 18-month ban was set aside and replaced by a four-year period of ineligibility. WADA's request to increase the ban for aggravating circumstances was dismissed.

Amount

No monetary amounts stated. WADA sought a ban of four to six years. The award imposed four years, with credit for time already served. The costs rulings (operative paragraphs 6 and 7) are redacted in the published text.

The dispute

Miro Sihvonen, a Finnish national-level motocross rider who raced for a team in Brazil from March to June 2024, tested positive at an in-competition control in Karkkila, Finland, on 14 July 2024. His sample contained a drostanolone metabolite and 19-norandrosterone (nandrolone), both anabolic steroids under S.1.1 of the 2024 Prohibited List. He said that on 9 June 2024 his team's physiotherapist, Roberta Bueno, had injected him with 2 mL of nandrolone that he believed was a painkiller, and that this nandrolone must have been contaminated with drostanolone. FINCIS accepted that the violation was not intentional, and its Anti-Doping Disciplinary Board imposed an 18-month ban for normal negligence. WADA appealed to CAS. It argued that the athlete had not established the source of either substance, that he had at least acted recklessly, and that the presence of multiple substances justified a ban of up to six years under Article 10.4 ADR.

Key holdings

1. CAS has jurisdiction. The athlete is not an International-Level Athlete, but no party objected and all parties signed the Order of Procedure. WADA's appeal, filed on 9 April 2025, met the Article 13.6.1 ADR deadline and is admissible. ¶¶ 69–71, 74
2. The athlete established on the balance of probabilities that the nandrolone came from the injection of 9 June 2024. The Bueno witnesses gave clear and credible testimony, and Ms. Bueno admitted the injection was illegal at a risk to her own career. The lack of a purchase receipt and of a treatment record did not undermine that testimony. ¶¶ 91–94
3. The nandrolone violation involved neither direct nor indirect intent. The athlete had asked whether the injection was a painkiller. The physiotherapist knew he wanted to compete clean and did not tell him what she was injecting. He had been cautious about medication before. His failure to ask to see the vial or package was nonetheless significant negligence, so the standard sanction for that violation would be two years under Article 10.2.2 ADR. ¶¶ 95–97
4. The athlete did not establish that the drostanolone came from contaminated nandrolone. It was not shown that the nandrolone was a black-market product, so the expert report of Dr. Kocerginsky rested on an unproven premise and spoke only of a "possible" contamination. The cited article found no drostanolone adulteration in nandrolone samples. FINCIS's expert, Ms. Suominen, reported no known link between nandrolone administration and drostanolone metabolites. ¶¶ 100–105
5. The athlete did not rebut the presumption that the drostanolone violation was intentional. The lack of a sporting incentive carries very limited weight. The low concentration of a non-threshold substance supports no conclusion either way. Testimony that he wanted to compete clean is not enough without other robust evidence. The sanction is therefore four years under Article 10.2.1 ADR. ¶¶ 109–113
6. No aggravating circumstances under Article 10.4 ADR. The presence of two substances does not automatically aggravate the sanction where the athlete has shown that he did not knowingly commit one of the violations. ¶ 116
7. The four-year ban runs from the date of the award, with credit for the provisional suspension from 16 August 2024 and for ineligibility already served. Results from 14 July 2024 to 16 August 2024 are disqualified, with forfeiture of medals, points and prizes. ¶¶ 117–120; operative part

Procedural history

1. 9 June 2024Team physiotherapist Roberta Bueno injected the athlete with 2 mL of nandrolone at a race in Brazil.
2. 14 July 2024In-competition doping control in Karkkila, Finland.
3. 16 August 2024FINCIS notified the athlete of the adverse analytical finding and imposed a provisional suspension.
4. 20 September 2024FINCIS charged the athlete under Articles 2.1 and 2.2 ADR. He admitted the violation on 10 October 2024 but denied intent.
5. 25 February 2025The FINCIS Anti-Doping Disciplinary Board imposed an 18-month ban for normal negligence.
6. 9 April 2025WADA filed its Statement of Appeal with CAS.
7. 28 May 2025CAS informed the parties that Jacques Radoux had been appointed Sole Arbitrator.
8. 29 September 2025Hearing by videoconference.
9. 27 November 2025Award: appeal partially upheld; four-year period of ineligibility imposed.

Tribunal, counsel and experts

Decided by

• Jacques Radoux Sole arbitrator, Court of Arbitration for Sport

For the claimant

WADA · Nicolas Zbinden · Louise Reilly

For the respondent

FINCIS · Jukka Blomberg · Henni Untamo · Hannu Kalkas · Janika Sokolova

Experts

Gilberto Kocerginsky (respondent) · Tiina Suominen (respondent)

Run a conflict check on these names →

Keywords

• anti-doping rule violation
• nandrolone
• drostanolone
• motocross
• presumption of intent
• indirect intent
• recklessness
• source of prohibited substance
• contamination
• balance of probabilities
• no significant fault or negligence
• duty of care
• aggravating circumstances
• multiple prohibited substances
• Finland's Anti-Doping Rules
• WADA appeal
• Paraguay
• physiotherapist

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