The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today announced that men’s ice hockey player Vitalijs Pavlovs of Latvia has been excluded from the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.
Pavlovs, 24, tested positive on 19 February for methylhexaneamine (dimethylpentylamine).
The IOC Disciplinary Commission, composed for this case of Denis Oswald (Chairman), Nawal El Moutawakel and Gunilla Lindberg, decided the following:
I. The Athlete, Mr Vitalijs Pavlovs, Latvia, Ice Hockey, is disqualified from the Men’s Play-offs Quarterfinals – Canada vs Latvia match.
II. The Athlete shall be excluded from the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi in 2014, and shall have his Olympic identity and accreditation card immediately cancelled.
III. The Athlete’s diploma (for placing 8th) be withdrawn.
IV. The International Ice Hockey Federation is hereby requested to make appropriate mention of the above in the record of the sports results, and to consider whether it should take any further action within its competence.
V. The Latvian Olympic Committee is hereby requested to return to the IOC, as soon as possible, the diploma awarded to the athlete in relation to the above-mentioned event.
VI. This decision shall enter into force immediately.
Under the IOC Anti-Doping Rules applicable to the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games, testing takes place under the IOC's auspices from 30 January (the date of the opening of the Olympic Villages) to 23 February 2014 (the date of the Closing Ceremony). Within that period, the IOC systematically performs tests before and after events. After each event, the IOC systematically carries out tests on the top five finishers plus two at random. The IOC also performs out-of-competition unannounced tests. Over the course of the Sochi Games, the IOC is expected to carry out some 2,453 tests – 1,944 urine and 509 blood.
The full decision is available here.
For all other questions, please contact the IOC Media Relations Team:
Tel: +79384547976, e-mail: pressoffice@olympic.org, or visit our web site at www.olympic.org.
20 Years at #1: