By Terence Dooley
Coatbridge’s Craig Windsor has been banned for three years and nine months by the UKAD due to an anti-doping violation. The 9-2 (2) Super middleweight contender was charged with possession of two substances ‘based on non-analytical evidence’ after information was passed to the UKAD by Larry “War Machine” Olubamiwo, who had his own ban dramatically reduced as a consequence. Windsor admitted the rule violations last month and now faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
Windsor, 29, was charged with: ‘Use or attempted use of the anabolic steroid oxandrolone. Possession of oxandrolone. Possession of the anabolic steroid stanozolol.' The UKAD stated that: ‘Oxandrolone and stanozolol are both prohibited under category S.1.1 (Anabolic Androgenic Steroids) in the 2012 and 2013 World Anti-Doping Agency List of Prohibited Substances and Methods.’
The organisation handed down a severe ban rather than the standard two-year sanction due to: ‘possession of more than one prohibited substance and use of one of them over an extended period, as part of a deliberate doping scheme; as well as provision of false evidence to the Panel’. It means that Windsor will have to wait until December 5 2016 to resume his career, which was on the rise after recent decision wins over Liam Griffiths and 168lb contender Paul Morby.
“This case has relied on the provision of non-analytical evidence from another member of the boxing community,” said Graham Arthur, UK Anti-Doping Director of Legal. “Over the last 12 months it has become increasingly clear that for anti-doping organisations to succeed in the fight against doping, we need the cooperation and support of the entire sporting community. Mr Windsor has admitted to possession of two anabolic steroids, and using one, with a clear intention to enhance his performance. This is a serious breach of the anti-doping rules and therefore merits the aggravated sanction imposed by the Panel. This is the sixth aggravated sanction that UK Anti-Doping has secured in the last two and a half years.”
It is good news for Olubamiwo, 10-3 (9), as the UKAD ruled that: ‘In return for the information he has provided to UK Anti-Doping, Mr Olubamiwo is eligible for a suspension of his own four year ban, in accordance with Article 10.5.3 of the World Anti-Doping Code. Mr Olubamiwo has therefore had 34 months of that ban suspended, with the approval of the World Anti-Doping Agency.’
“Lanre Olubamiwo is a banned boxer who has worked with UK Anti-Doping to help eliminate doping from his sport,” said Robert Smith of the BBBoC. “We cannot lose sight of the fact that he himself broke anti-doping rules to gain an unfair advantage in the past. Now, however, he has helped in the detection and prevention of other cheating in the sport. In addition, the information that Mr Olubamiwo has provided about his own drug use, including where and how he sourced his drugs, and how he designed his doping programmes to evade detection, will be very helpful to UK Anti-Doping moving forward in the fight against doping in sport in general and in boxing in particular.”
Olubamiwo is applying for his licence with the British Boxing Board of Control in a bid to resume a career that hit rocky ground due to back-to-back losses to John McDermott and Sam Sexton — by a single round stoppage and fifth-round technical decision respectively.
The full written decision can be found on the UK Anti-Doping website at http://www.ukad.org.uk/anti-doping-rule-violations/current-violations/.
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