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As previously reported in February, Robel Fsiha, an Eritrean athlete who competed for Sweden has been suspended for four years by the Swedish Anti-Doping Board. He tested positive for testosterone in November 2019.
He is the 2019 European Cross Country Champion.
In December 2019, the then 23-year-old won the European Cross Country Championships. He was not expected to place in the top-five and during the race, kept himself in the hunt until the final lap, where he powered away with apparent ease to win with no runner in sight.
He had until Feb. 14 to request that his B-sample be tested and until the 21st to appeal the provisional suspension by SWA.
Fsiha owns a half-marathon personal best of 61:18 from the Bahrain Night Half Marathon from 2019. He ran the 5,000m event as fast as 13:49.97, four months later at the KBC Night of Athletics that took place in Heusden-Zolder.
Fsiha first ran for Sweden towards the end of 2018. He arrived as a refugee in 2013 from Eritrea.
The Swedish Anti-Doping Board reached a decision to suspend Fsiha for four years and chairman Åke Thimfors explained the process to SVT Sport.
“It is such a substance that, in principle, leads to suspension for four years,” Thimfors said. “To get away with it, it is necessary to show to the doping board that you have not intentionally got it – he has not been able to prove it.”
The panel was unanimous in its decision.
