Schwazer returns after 8 years of mock the rules (unpunished)

7 July, 202410 July, 2024 by Redazione

Alex Schwazer’s doping ban ends today, an event that has divided the world of athletics and racewalking fans. Beyond the clash of opinions of these 8 years, also enriched by sci-fi reconstructions and outright idiocies conveyed by the innocentist media (see support campaigns of the italian sports newspaper “Gazzetta dello sport” and the entertainment program “Le Iene”) the sentence was served, even though “Alfred Rainer” (alse name used by Schwazer when he used the “services” of Doc. Michele Ferrari) has the enviable record of five contested anti-doping violations and more than 11 years of disqualification obtained.

But in this long period of redemption, in addition to throwing mud at those allegedly involved in the alleged plot against him, did Schwazer respect all the rules? LaMarcia.Com was able to carry out an investigation into the matter, discovering previously unpublished elements.

Coaching career in violation of sports rules

Already since November 2016, a few months after the CAS disqualification ruling, Schwazer had recycled himself into coaching “for all medium-long distance sports, from running to cycling” because he was “disqualified as an athlete but is not a person inhibited by the sports system”: This last statement was and is patently false because anyone disqualified for doping is ineligible for competitions and sporting events, and is automatically banned from all sports and cannot be frequented (in the sports field) by other members of federations. The coaching career of the South Tyrolean had also been publicised by the official website www.schwazer-coaching.com, which was then quickly closed following a article/investigation from the newspaper “Il Tempo” which had revealed the ambiguity of this new work, and because WADA had clarified any doubts on the matter by also including the name Alex Schwazer in the world list of coaches not to be frequented (Prohibited association list, in this latest version his name is at number 142).

Website closed but activity never stopped and kept under wraps for all these years, making sure that publicly the the services offered were only for sport “amateurs” who were not members of sports federations, but then they would have to run marathons and half marathons, competitions for which in Italy a sports medical examination, and therefore RunCard or FIDAL membership, are always mandatory. The athletes of the South Tyrolean coach, therefore, would have avoided problems by competing in foreign countries where sport membership is not mandatory, but the editorial staff of LaMarcia.Com managed to discover that at least three of these people are member in sports federations in various capacities, and have competed in official competitions while they were being trained by Schwazer:

• Mr D.A. who started to be trained by Schwazer at the end of 2016, is a FIDAL member until 2016, a RUNCARD member from 2018 to 2020, RUNCARD 2021 and 2022, a RFEA member (Spanish federation) in 2023
• Mr A.C. who started to be trained by Schwazer at the end of 2016, is a RUNCARD member for the years 2023 and 2024
• Mr L.S. who has been trained by Schwazer since at least 2019 and has been a FIDAL member from 2017 to 2023

Obviously, these are non-professional athletes, but still members of a sports federation; Therefore, risk of disqualification for them but also for Schwazer, but the international anti-doping institutions have not moved at the moment, despite there being fairly clear legal precedents on this type of violation (see international cases Russel Vs Antidoping Canada and Murray VS Antidoping New Zealand).

The athlete disqualified for doping who rewards young athletes in a party organized by a FIDAL club with the patronage of the local italian athletics federation authority

This is the other mockery of Alex Schwazer, a presentation of his coach Sandro Donati’s book which took place on September 21, 2021, which it turns into the “party” of a FIDAL club, with the patronage of two Provincial FIDAL committees and the presence of the two respective Presidents. The poster speaks for itself and needs no further comments, it should only be added that the occasion had also been included in the local FIDAL event calendars.

On the sidelines of the evening, there was the ultimate affront to the rules, with a doping ban athlete that rewarded the clean young athletes of the athletics club that had invited him, complete with the award plaque and the ritual photo. On the plaque the logo of the sports club, the name and surname of the awarded athlete and the wording “for the prestigious results obtained in the 2021 season, the grateful club”. A real award linked to sports activity. Is this allowed for an athlete disqualified for doping? Is it ethical? No.

Even in this case the international anti-doping institutions have remained almost immobile, but a small result has been achieved: as soon as word spread in sports circles that there was a risk of disqualification, the photos of the event were made to disappear from the web. Like, maybe it wasn’t allowed to do something like that, so better to hide the evidence.

Obviously, this type of violation carries a high risk, as confirmed by the recent case Andrey Silnov VS Athletics Integrity Unit, where the Russian athlete, already sanctioned for 4 years, during the suspension period awarded prizes to other athletes, thus incurring an increase in the period of disqualification.

Given all this, does Alex Schwazer really deserve to return to competition?

The impression is that all the chaos created by the alleged conspiracy and the subsequent media campaign of innocence have given Schwazer a sort of “immunity”: on the one hand the beatification of his fans, on the other hand, the lack of desire of the anti-doping institutions to further prolong the absurd controversies over a sacrosanct disqualification. Better to leave it alone, after all the disqualification was long and of the athlete there remain only the blurred outlines of the gossip character who participated in the last edition of italian “Big Brother”.