Schwazer petition to halt ban rejected

(ANSA) - Bolzano, December 10 - A court in Lausanne on Tuesday rejected a petition by Italian race walker Alex Schwazer to have his doping ban suspended, the 2008 Olympic champion's lawyer said. Schwazer returned to competition in May 2016 after serving a ban he was handed for testing positive before the 2012 London Olympics.
    Shortly thereafter it was announced that testosterone had been detected in a urine test in January 2016.
    Schwazer argued he was clean and was the victim of foul play, saying the urine test had been tampered with.
    The lawyer, Gerhard Brandstaetter, said Schwazer's legal battle against the ban will go on.
    Also on Tuesday, Schwazer's doctors belonging to the Italian athletics federation (FIDAL) were acquitted on appeal of helping him dope.
    Pierluigi Fiorella and Giuseppe Fischetto had got two years each in the first-instance trial.
    The former head of FIDAL's technical sector, Rita Bottiglieri, was also acquitted.
    She had got nine months in the earlier trial.