Coach gets life ban for doping

June 19, 2007

SYDNEY: Australian weightlifting coach Sevdalin Marinov has received a life ban from the Court of Arbitration for Sport over a second drugs offence, the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority said on Monday.

ASADA said in a statement Marinov was sanctioned for possession of prohibited substances including testosterone and anabolic steroids. Marinov – a three-time world champion, Olympic and Commonwealth gold medalist – had previously tested positive to steroids in Bulgaria in 1995 before coming to Australia where he was employed as the head coach of Victorian Weightlifting and the national junior coach. ASADA chairman Richard Ings said the testosterone and anabolic steroids were discovered in November 2003, after police executed a search warrant at a premises where Marinov had been residing.

“This CAS decision is a strong endorsement of ASADA’s new investigative capability and sends a powerful message that there is no room in Australian sport for those athletes or their support persons who use or traffic in doping substances,” Ings said in the statement.