Khaled Al Eid and Abdullah Waleed Sharbatly, the two Saudi Arabian athletes who received an eight-month ban from the Fédération Equestre Internationale Tribunal when their horses tested positive for controlled medication substances, have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The CAS registered the appeal on June 1 and agreed to expedite the hearing with the consent of the FEI. A hearing will take place on June 7 with a decision issued by June 15. If the ban is overturned in their favor, this would allow Al Eid, 43, and Sharbatly, 29, to compete in the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Al Eid and Sharbatly’s horses tested positive for the anti-inflammatories phenylbutazone and oxyphenbutazone (a phenylbutazone derivative).
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Al Eid’s mount, Vanhoeve, was tested at the Riyadh CSI-W (Saudi Arabia) on Nov. 30-Dec. 3, 2011. Al Eid voluntarily suspended himself on Feb. 24.
Lobster 43 was tested while Sharbatly competed him at the CSI-W at Al Ain (United Arab Emirates) on Feb. 9-11. He also voluntarily suspended himself on Feb. 28.
In hearings before the tribunal in mid-April, the riders claimed the horses ingested the substances by accident via contaminated surroundings. The FEI Tribunal ruled the riders did not provide sufficient proof to back up the theory, and on May 23 announced their decision to suspend both riders for eight months, disqualifying them from competing in the Olympics.
