Irish swimmer Robbie Powell has been banned for 12 months after a failing a drugs doping test in November 2019 it has been confirmed.
RTE Sport report that the 20 year old had Clostebol in his system. This is obviously a banned substance. The UCD student didn’t ask for his B sample to be tested and therefore took the one year ban. Swim Ireland and Sport Ireland confirmed the news in a statement on Wednesday. They said, “Sport Ireland can impose bans of four years, two years and one year for this type of substance, but the fact that the one year ban is back-dated to the time of the incident last November, is an indication that Powell co-operated fully with Sport Ireland and it has been viewed as an accidental breach.”
Powell, who hails from Athlone said he had been using cream to treat eczema, but that he had used cream from a similar looking tube instead which obviously contained the banned substance. RTE state that Powell applied the cream Trofodermin as opposed to Denvercort. Powell was not able to how he came out in terms of possession of the banned cream as it’s only available in Italy and Brazil.
The ban will be backdate to the 28th of November 2019, meaning of course Powell will be allowed to compete in Tokyo next year should he qualify.Powell said in a statement, “I acknowledge my mistake and apologise sincerely to my supporters, my team colleagues and coaches. It is important to note that this was an honest mistake”. He continued, “Sport Ireland has confirmed that there was no intention to infringe the regulations which I fully support and have always been very careful to adhere to. I have always attended anti-doping sessions and will continue to do so”.
Powell intends to go back swimming once the ban is completed. He said,”The past few months have been extremely rough for my family and me. They are the reasons that I’ll be back. I’ve missed my friends, along with the grind. Until then, and subject to the Covid-19 restrictions, I’ll be focused on my training by myself.”
