TheCable

Roland Ezuruike has been banned for 18 months by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) for an anti-doping rule violation.

The IPC said the Paralympic record holder failed to disclose his whereabouts between April 12, 2019, and March 9, 2020, and consequently missed a mandatory test.

The Imo-born Paralympian, who broke the men’s 54kg record at the 2016 Rio Olympics, was found to have violated the “whereabouts” rule which says an athlete must make their location known at specific times for out of competition testing.

The 41-year-old is the first athlete to be sanctioned by the IPC for a whereabouts violation.

The IPC said the 2018 Commonwealth gold medallist will be ineligible to compete from August 2020 to February 2022.

“The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has banned Nigerian Para powerlifter Roland Ezuruike for a period of 18 months for committing an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV),” the IPC statement read.

“The athlete was found to have committed an ADRV pursuant to IPC Anti-Doping Code Article 2.4 of the IF Rules: whereabouts failures by an athlete. Ezuruike is part of the IPC Registered Testing Pool, which is a selected group of athletes, required to make whereabouts filings in order to be located for out of competition testing.

“Between 12 April 2019 and 9 March 2020, Ezuruike was notified of two filing failures and a missed test. Article 2.4 states that any combination of three (3) missed tests and/or filing failures within a twelve-month period by an Athlete in a Registered Testing Pool shall be considered an ADRV.

“As a result of the whereabouts violation, Ezuruike received an 18-month period of Ineligibility from 17 August 2020 to 16 February 2022. This represents the first sanction related to a whereabouts violation by the IPC.

“The IPC reminds all athletes in their Registered Testing Pool to remain vigilant when it comes to filing and updating their whereabouts. As a signatory of the World Anti-Doping Code (WADC), the IPC remains committed to a doping-free sporting environment at all levels.

“The IPC has established the IPC Anti-Doping Code (Code) in compliance with the general principles of the World Anti-Doping Code, including the WADC International Standards, expecting that, in the spirit of sport, it will lead the fight against doping in sport for athletes with a disability.”

Ezuruonye claimed his first World Championship title in 2017 in the men’s 54kg category.

He won his maiden Commonwealth Games title in Gold Coast, Australia in 2018.