LOS ANGELES – JAMS announced that Jeffrey G. Benz, Esq. served on the Court of Arbitration for Sport panel that dismissed an appeal by the World Anti-Doping Agency against American sprinter Gil Roberts.
Mr. Benz and the CAS Panel unanimously determined that Mr. Roberts met his burden as to identifying the source of the substance–kissing his girlfriend shortly after she ingested medicine that contained a drug called probenecid. The factual evidence presented before the CAS Panel, which involved several witnesses, was consistent, convincing and could not be contradicted by the scientific evidence proposed by WADA.
It was also established that the low amount of probenecid found would have had no effect as a useful masking agent. All relevant elements in the case showed that the ingestion of probenecid was accidental on a balance of probabilities and, therefore, the CAS Panel found no grounds to impose a period of ineligibility on Mr. Roberts.
A different decision could have jeopardized Mr. Roberts’s eligibility for the 2020 Olympics.
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Founded in 1979, JAMS is the largest private provider of mediation and arbitration services worldwide. With Resolution Centers nationwide and abroad, JAMS and its nearly 350 neutrals are responsible for resolving thousands of the world’s important cases. JAMS may be reached at 800-352-5267.