L’entraîneur sanctionné a 48 heures pour faire appel
Ainsi, 23 mois après que League Of Legends ait été trouvé positif à un produit illicite, le Human Recombinate Erythropoietine (EPO), on connaît le dénouement dans cette affaire de dopage. L’entraîneur Chandradutt Daby, trouvé coupable par le board de Racing Stewards et qui avait plaidé non coupable, s’est vu infliger une amende de Rs 150 000.
Le board a été d’avis que plusieurs facteurs ont plaidé en faveur de Chandradutt Daby et il a été décidé de ne pas aller de l’avant avec une disqualification de 12 mois comme il est prévu pour tout ceux qui entravent la règle 208 A (5) et plutôt privilégier une amende. Chandradutt Daby a 48 heures pour faire appel contre la sanction qui lui a été infligée.
Il aura donc fallu onze séances où toutes les parties concernées ont été entendues à nouveau pour connaître le verdict dans cette affaire. C’est toujours en visioconférence que Julia Keevy a présidé cette dernière session, hier, avec Alain Rousset et Sandy Poonisamy comme autres membres du board. Chandradutt Daby et ses hommes de loi, Mes Glover (SC) et Kallee étaient aussi présents devant leurs ordinateurs.
Miss Keevy a déclaré que: «Under the Rules Of Racing, the penalty for a contravention of this particular Rule 208 A (5), if the person is found guilty, as has been the case here, 208 A (6) states : When a person is found guilty of a breach of the Rule 208 A (5), a penalty of a disqualification for a period of not less than 12 months must be imposed unless there is a finding that a spécial circumstance exists whereupon the penalty may be reduced. We have taken into account the co-operation of Mr Daby, throughout the proceedings. We have also taken into account that this is his first offence for a contravention of the particular rule. We have considered his position as ex-jockey, retired after injury and only having worked in the horse racing industry professionnally and the répercussions that a disqualification would have on his personal circumstances. A period of 23 months has passed since the sampling of League Of Legends where exhaustive ressources and energy has been spent adjudicating this case for both the Mauritius Turf club and Mr Daby. The board had found that he had only been training for 16 months at the time of the contravention of the rule, and this being his first offence consider the penalty of 12 month disqualification particularly harsh. The board is of the view that the prevaling conditions of the horse racing industry in Mauritius due to Covid-19 pandemic with the long period of time that the horse had been found positive are serious factors that operate in favour of the trainer for the non-application of the mandatory 12 month suspension and that a fine would meet the ends of justice in the particular circumstances of the matter. The board has decided that these factors contribute towards a special circumstance, in this particular case, in relation to the severity of the penalty requirements of Rule 208 A (6) commiserated additionally against his expérience as a trainer at the time. Therefore, the board is waiving the required 12 month disqualification and have ruled in favour of a penalty of a fine of Rs 150 000.»