Yousef Mohammed Al-Asiri of Saudi Arabia has been banned for 10 years from the sport of athletics by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU).
In September and October 2023, he provided two out-of-competition test samples in connection with the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games.
Both samples tested positive for the banned performance-enhancing substance dEPO or darbepoetin and EPO. This was the second time that the athlete had tested positive for PEDs. In 2014, he served a two-year ban for taking clenbuterol.
The 36-year-old, who was already serving his appealable suspension, breached the conditions and competed in the 2025 Saudi Arabian Championships.
Interestingly, Al-Asiri, through his pro bono lawyer, argued that he should receive credit for time served and that his total suspension should be six to eight years. While the AIU was seeking 12 years. The two sides settled on 10. Additionally, the defendants argued that aggravating circumstances were not in play as the dEPO and EPO that he tested positive for basically function in the same way.
Ms. Binney argued that the injections contained both dEPO and EPO. They continued to argue for the lowest length of suspension and that it had been nine years since the previous positive test. In reality, he was caught twice, but likely was on and off cycles of different PEDs throughout the entirety of his career.
It was later determined that he had likely injected dEPO and EPO separately.
An athlete with the name Youssef Mohamed Al-Asiri, also age 36, according to World Athletics, has personal bests of 13:48.19 in the 5000m event from May of 2023 and 30:29.76 from April 2023, both at 33 years of age. Also his 3000m and 3000m steeplechase bests from the year before were 8:27.14 and 9:31.11, respectively. As records under a similar name only go back three years, there is a possibility that he had a name change. World Athletics does not appear to have performance records for Yousef Mohammed Al-Asiri.
