Irish Olympic showjumper Jessica Kürten renewed her criticism of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) yesterday, demanding that doping charges against her be dropped and calling for a change in the rules after confirmatory analysis on her horse's B sample proved negative.
Kürten had requested confirmatory analysis after being informed by the FEI last month that her horse Libertina had tested positive to caffeine and theophylline at a show in Canada last September.
Under a new fast-track system for doping cases, introduced on January 1st this year, the federation imposed a fine of 250 Swiss francs (€162), plus a 500 Swiss franc administration fee (€323), but Kürten refused to pay the fine and pledged to clear her name.
Confirmatory analysis of the horse's B sample by the Horseracing Forensic Laboratory in England has now produced a negative result and Kürten is demanding that the case be dropped. "How can the FEI try to penalise somebody when the B sample wasn't in a proper container?" Kürten told The Irish Times yesterday.
"It was in something like a yoghurt pot and it had leaked," she said from the World Cup show in Gothenburg, Sweden. "I have been wrongly accused of doping and the case should now be dismissed. It's unbelievable. They haven't got a leg to stand on."
"It took them five months to tell me that my horse was positive, but they'll have to come back to me soon on this," said Kürten, who is being represented by Swiss lawyer Ulf Walz.
Kürten was informed of the negative result by her witnessing analyst, Dr Laurent Bigler, who also acted as witnessing analyst for Cian O'Connor when Waterford Crystal's B blood sample was sent to New York for confirmatory analysis in December.
Kürten is now calling for a full review of the FEI rules and regulations to prevent similar occurrences in the future. "If I had accepted the initial offer from the FEI, I would have paid a fine, forfeited the prizemoney, and this scandalous situation would not have come to light. The FEI must change its rules and internal regulations to ensure that this situation of wrongful accusation doesn't happen again to any other riders."
The FEI, which is gearing up for Sunday's judicial hearing of the Cian O'Connor case in Zurich, is expected to issue a statement later today on the Kürten controversy.
"We haven't received the official report from the laboratory yet and we need to have that before we issue a statement", press officer Muriel Faienza said yesterday.
The Equestrian Federation of Ireland is also awaiting the laboratory report before issuing a statement. "We have not received official confirmation yet of the Libertina B sample test from the FEI and can therefore make no comment", a spokesperson said.