Athletics South Africa (ASA) on Monday announced that Hezekiel Sepeng has been found guilty of having committed a doping offence and has been declared ineligible to participate in any competition for two years.
Sepeng’s case was referred to athletics governing body IAAF’s doping review board in January by ASA’s disciplinary committee, for consideration of exceptional circumstances. However, it found that no exceptional circumstances exist in Sepeng’s case.
The IAAF doping review board remitted the case back to ASA, in accordance with IAAF Rule 38.18, for the ASA disciplinary committee to impose the sanction as prescribed in IAAF Rule 40.1.
Therefore, the ASA disciplinary committee, having considered the determination of the IAAF’s doping review board, has found Sepeng guilty of having committed a doping offence and the sanction imposed, as prescribed in IAAF Rule 40.1, is a two-year period of ineligibility from the date upon which Sepeng was provisionally suspended by ASA, namely May 11 2005. This runs until May 10 2007.
Sepeng was tested out of competition by the IAAF on February 21 last year in Potchefstroom, where his urine sample was found to contain the prohibited substance, Norandrosterone. — Sapa