The world 5000m silver medallist is already serving a two-year ban until 2026, for three whereabouts failures in a 12-month period
Mohamed Katir has been banned for four years for tampering.
The 26-year-old, who secured a world 5000m silver medal in Budapest last year, was already serving a two-year ban for missing three doping tests in 12 months.
Mohamed Katir Handed Extended Ban Until 2028 for Doping Violations
This four-year ban will run concurrently with his whereabouts failures sanction, extending Mohamed Katir’s ban from the sport until February 2028.
That means that he will miss the next two world championships in Tokyo and Beijing but will be able to compete at the LA 2028 Olympics.
Mohamed Katir, who is also a world 1500m bronze and European 5000m silver medallist, was found to have falsified travel documents – namely travel itinerary, boarding pass and booking confirmation – in an attempt to mislead investigators as they probed the veracity of his explanation of three missed doping tests over a one-year period.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen beats Mo Katir (Getty)
The AIU’s disciplinary tribunal said: “There can be no doubt that Mohamed Katir put forward a false version of events and altered documents. He did so in order to persuade World Athletics that his whereabouts failure on February 28, 2023 should not be treated as such.
“In those circumstances, it is obvious that Mohamed Katir committed an anti-doping rules violation by tampering/attempted tampering.”
Mohamed Katir’s Doping Ban Highlights Anti-Doping Efforts in Athletics
Mohamed Katir’s other two whereabouts failures were on April 3 and October 10, 2023. His results since October 10 were already disqualified.
“Gone are the days in athletics when explanations offered in anti-doping cases are just accepted at face value,” AIU head Brett Clothier said. “Thanks to strong investment in investigations, since its inception in 2017, the AIU has prosecuted 25 Tampering cases.
“The vast majority of our elite athletes respect the strict rules and processes of the sport and they should take heart at the action being taken to ensure a level playing field.”
Not only has Mohamed Katir secured three major track medals but he is also the European 3000m indoor and 5000m record-holder, with bests of 7:27.64 and 12:45.01 respectively.
Mohamed Katir (Getty)
The Spaniard’s records however will still stand as they all occurred before October of last year.
Spanish sprinter Mohamed Katir has been prohibited for a very long time by the Sports Honesty Unit (AIU) for altering subsequent to misrepresenting records during a test into his whereabouts disappointments, for which he was at that point suspended for a long time recently.
Mohamed Katir had owned up to three whereabouts disappointments during 2023.
Under WADA’s “whereabouts” rule, all competitors should make themselves accessible to medicate analyzers for one hour daily for out-of-rivalry testing.
Under the World Games hostile to doping rules, three whereabouts disappointments inside a year time span bring about a standard infringement.
The 26-year-old, who won the silver decoration in the 5,000m and a bronze in the 1,500m at the World Games Titles last year, will serve the two boycotts simultaneously, stretching out his ineligibility to contend until February 2028.
“Mohamed Katir was found to have misrepresented travel reports namely a movement schedule, ticket and booking confirmation] trying to deceive examiners,” the AIU said in a proclamation.
Nonetheless, the Disciplinary Council that governed for the situation denied the AIU’s solicitation to have Mohamed Katir’s outcomes to be precluded from Walk 9, 2023 on the grounds that he had not profited from an upper hand, the assertion added.
“By far most of our first class competitors regard the severe guidelines and cycles of the game and they ought to make a heart at the move being taken to guarantee a level battleground,” AIU head Brett Clothier said.
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