The Boccia International Sports Federation (BISFed) has announced that Russian boccia athlete Dimitri Kozmin has been suspended for one year for an Anti-Doping Rule violation. Kozmin returned an adverse analytical finding for trimetazidene in a urine sample provided on 23 May 2016 while competing at the BISFed World Open in Dubai, UAE. Trimetazidene is included on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) 2016 Prohibited List (S.4. Hormone and Metabolic Modulators) and is prohibited at all times, both in and out of competition.
As a result of his violation, Kozmin was ruled ineligible from competition from 23 May 2016 until 23 May 2017. All Kozmin’s results obtained during the 2016 World Open in Dubai and onwards until 23 May 2017 will be disqualified including forfeiture of any medals and points.
The principle of strict liability applies to anti-doping matters. Therefore, each athlete is strictly liable for the substances found in his or her sample, and an anti-doping rule violation occurs whenever a prohibited substance (or its metabolites or markers) is found in his or her bodily specimen, whether or not the athlete intentionally or unintentionally used a prohibited substance or was negligent or otherwise at fault.
As a signatory of the World Anti-Doping Code (WADC), BISFed remains committed to a doping free sporting environment at all levels. The International Paralympic Committee, together with the International Federations and the National Paralympic Committees, established the IPC Anti-Doping Code to prevent doping in sport for Paralympic athletes, in the spirit of fair play. The BISFed Anti-Doping Code is in conformity with the general principles of the WADC.
