In a press release, the FEI has announced that the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has approved a settlement between the FEI and American rider Paige Johnson (FEI ID USA/10013411) in a substance reclassification case. 

Samples taken on 21 January 2017 from the horse Luke Skywalker 46 (FEI ID 103XB94/USA), ridden by Paige Johnson at the CSI2* in Wellington (USA), tested positive for the local anaesthetic Pramoxine. Following the decision of the FEI Tribunal, Johnson appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

As the substance Pramoxine will to be reclassified from a banned substance to controlled medication, effective from 1 January 2018, the two parties – the athlete and the FEI – ultimately agreed a settlement, which was approved by the CAS.

Under the terms of the settlement, the athlete’s period of ineligibility has been reduced from one year to three months, from 5 April 2017 (the date of notification) until 5 July 2017 and therefore the athlete is now cleared to compete.

The CAS arbitration costs will be borne equally by the parties.

FEI Legal Director Mikael Rentsch explains: “Given the fact that Pramoxine has been recently reclassified as a controlled medication, effective as of 1 January 2018, the FEI agreed as a matter of fairness and based on the principle of proportionality, that the period of ineligibility initially imposed by the FEI Tribunal should be reduced. Three months was deemed appropriate given the circumstances.”

Further details on the CAS decision can be found here.

The press release on the initial FEI Tribunal case can be found here.
 

Source: Press release from FEI