"I have never doped. The disciplinary chamber's decision is an extremely big relief for me. It was the worst five months of my life. After months of extremely stressful waiting, I can now look to the future with optimism again. In terms of sport, I'm more motivated than ever and I'm working on my comeback every day," says a delighted Flückiger.

• The DK was realistically shown with the corresponding evidence how food contamination could have occurred.
Flückiger's steroid profile is normal, i.e. absolutely unremarkable.
• Flückiger independently had a hair sample taken on August 31, 2022, which was analyzed by Prof. Pascal Kintz from the University of Strasbourg on September 12, 2022. Kintz is the world's leading expert in this field and has made a name for himself particularly in hair analyses in criminal proceedings. The hair analysis was negative. No traces of zeranol or its metabolites were found in Flückiger's hair. This means that Mathias Flückiger did not consume small amounts of zeranol over a longer period of time, nor a larger amount on a particular day.
Shortly before and after the atypical test result at the Swiss Championships in Leysin, two negative samples were taken from Flückiger.Monday, May 30, 2022, training control by SSI, 6 days before XCO-SM Leysin (Sui)
• Friday, June 10, 2022, competition control by UCI/ITA, 5 days after SM, after XCC World Cup victory in Leogang (Austria)
• There is several scientific evidence and findings that a doping scenario can be ruled out in the case of Mathias Flückiger: The available scientific evidence on Zeranol shows that it is highly unlikely to have an anabolic effect in humans. Zeranol is therefore not used as an anabolic agent either in body builder circles or by athletes (cf. WADA statistics). Zeranol is also not used in microdoses due to its ineffectiveness (unlike testosterone and testosterone-like anabolic androgenic steroids). The chemical structures of testosterone and Zeranol are fundamentally different, as is their mechanism of action.

It is clear that Swiss Sports Integrity would never have been allowed to issue such a provisional ban if it had complied with the "Stakeholder Notice regarding potential meat contamination cases" of the World Anti-Doping Agency WADA. This WADA guideline specifies what must be done in such a case before the doping sample can be considered an "abnormal analytical result" (positive sample). Swiss Sports Integrity did not follow most of the steps. The fact is that the SSI should never have classified Flückiger's sample as positive, but only as atypical. However, a positive sample is a prerequisite for the imposition of a provisional ban, including the B sample.

This is precisely why the Disciplinary Chamber made its first important decision in Flückiger's favor on 28 September 2022. The Disciplinary Chamber had temporarily halted Swiss Sports Integrity on a super-provisional basis (i.e. without hearing the SSI). This means that all time limits for normal doping proceedings have been suspended until further notice. The Disciplinary Chamber therefore did not allow Swiss Sports Integrity to continue the "normal" proceedings in a doping case by opening the B sample.The lifting of the provisional ban with immediate effect from December 17, 2022 is hugely important for Flückiger in several respects: "I haven't competed for more than five months. During this time, I've dropped from third to 24th in the world rankings and my starting position has deteriorated massively as a result. I also lacked competition practice and missed the entire second half of the season with the highlights of the European Championships and World Championships. I'm now planning my 2023 season and want to ride races again soon." So the nightmare is not yet over for Mathias Flückiger: "I hope that my case can be closed as soon as possible. The constant uncertainty, the months of waiting and the unfounded accusations must finally come to an end."Now the case is going back to Swiss Sports Integrity. Taking into account the stakeholder notice, the national anti-doping agency may re-evaluate the A sample from June 5, 2022 as an abnormal or atypical analysis result. Swiss Sports Integrity cannot legally challenge the decision of the disciplinary chamber. The organization remains of the opinion that the extensive investigations revealed an abnormal analysis result and that the provisional ban was therefore mandatory. According to Swiss Sport Integrity, it will review the decision and take the next steps on this basis. Source: Mathias Flückiger press release, Swiss Sports Integrity press release