The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) has sanctioned former basketball player Pierrià Henry to a four-year suspension for using a “prohibited method” during an anti-doping control to which he was subjected on January 13, 2023, when he was on the Vitorian team.
The federative entity announced the sanction through its website on which it bases the suspension on article 2.2 of the anti-doping book, which states that it develops the “attempt to use by an athlete of a prohibited substance or a prohibited method.” .
This article adds that “it is not necessary to demonstrate intent, fault, negligence or conscious use on the part of the athlete to establish an anti-doping rule violation for the use of a prohibited substance or a prohibited method.”
"The success or failure of the use or attempted use of a prohibited substance or prohibited method is not material. It is sufficient that the prohibited substance or prohibited method has been used or attempted to be used for an anti-doping rule violation to occur. ", concludes the standard.
Baskonia already clarified at the time that the suspension derived from a procedural issue of the test and not from the player having given a positive result in the anti-doping control for prohibited substances. Furthermore, at the time the facts became known, the club made the decision to provisionally suspend its license until the case was resolved.
On the other hand, FIBA revised the internal regulations in 2021 with different updates in relation to that “the basic sanctions can now be increased up to an additional period of two years if there are aggravating circumstances, for example, the use of multiple substances, the commission of multiple infractions, deceptive or obstructive conduct and other similar serious circumstances.”
