Actually, Mathias Flückiger could be concentrating on the fall of his career. After all, he wants to finally become world champion in August at the age of almost 37.

However, the doping proceedings, which should never have been initiated, are still on his mind. He wants his case to be investigated by an external body and those responsible to be held accountable for their mistakes. In this report from October 2024, based on the verdict of the Disciplinary Chamber of Swiss Sport,

Ride shows what the people in charge did wrong. And because the responsible authorities, Swiss Sport Integrity and Swiss Olympic are making no effort to comply with the demand for an investigation, an old acquaintance is now shifting up a gear: Matthias Kamber. He worked in the fight against doping for 30 years and was head of Anti Doping Switzerland from 2008 to 2018. Then, at the age of 63, he handed over to Ernst König, under whom the organization was renamed Swiss Sport Integrity.

Kamber advised Flückiger during his trial. After the proceedings and his advisory mandate were concluded, he drafted a 25-page document with 51 suggestions for improvement aimed at avoiding a case like Flückiger's in the future. The "Blick" was the first to report on it. The paper is also available to Ride. It should be noted that Kamber is on Flückiger's side and was paid by him, albeit not for this paper. It is therefore not an independent expert opinion. However, during his 30 years as an anti-doping campaigner, Kamber was known for openly addressing grievances and sparing no one. Especially not potential dopers. But Flückiger is clearly not one of them. In Kamber's opinion, it is therefore not only an innocent athlete who has suffered, but also the credibility of the anti-doping system in Switzerland.

"Swiss Sport Integrity lacks scientific and legal expertise"

Kamber's criticism is clear: "It is obvious that SSI [Swiss Sport Integrity] lacks scientific and, in some cases, specialist legal expertise at an operational level. The documents and emails available to us from the early period of results management between July 11, 2022 and August 18, 2022 [period from sample analysis to publication of the results] already show an insecure, even helpless approach." Kamber writes further below: "The director of SSI obviously made false claims in the media that prejudged Flückiger."

In addition, the procedure went on too long in various phases, the athlete was left in the dark, especially at the beginning, which made it impossible for him to find reasons as to how the ceranol could have gotten into his sample.

Kamber's verdict on the actions of SSI and its supervisory body, the Foundation Board, was almost scathing: "Throughout the entire procedure, SSI was able to take incompetent steps in some cases without intervening. A control mechanism must be created (most simply at the Foundation Board) to prevent a procedure from getting so out of hand that not only the athlete but also SSI itself and the trust of the sport in the fight against doping are damaged."

SSI should relinquish responsibility for testing

Under point 44 of 51 comes the most radical demand: "It is appropriate that the Director of SSI publicly admits the mistakes made, apologizes, initiates financial compensation, takes responsibility and resigns. This is the only way to rebuild trust in the work of SSI." This is another demand from Flückiger, who has spent around 150,000 francs defending himself against a procedure that was a mistake from the outset. He wants at least this money back. There is no mention of the prize money he lost during his unjustified ban.

In Matthias Kamber's opinion, the SSI should no longer be responsible for combating doping among top Swiss athletes, but only for ethics violations. Instead, he proposes transferring this responsibility to the International Testing Agency. This agency runs the laboratory in Lausanne that analyzed Flückiger's sample, which was taken, stored and transported in violation of the rules. This laboratory already carries out doping tests and results management for many international sports federations.

Kamber also told Blick that he had the impression that Swiss Sport Integrity simply needed another positive sample. "Why else would they have informed us the day before Flückiger's European Championship start? This is unethical behavior." In the newspaper, he calls for the resignation of SSI Director Ernst König as well as that of Foundation Board President Ulrich Kurmann.

What does Swiss Sport Integrity have to say about the accusations and demands for resignation? Ride has asked the organization for a statement. There was no response within 24 hours of the request. If SSI does get in touch, we will provide the statement at a later date.