Sheik Hazza bin Sultan bin Sayed Al Nahyan of the united Arab Emirates will forever remain the World Endurance Champion for 2005—even though his horse, Hachim, tested positive for methylprednisone, a prohibited anti-inflammatory drug. The reason? The laboratory that undertook the confirmatory analysis for the Federation Equestre Internationale did it without Al Nahyan or a representative present, even though Al Nahyan had confirmed his desire to attend the test.

Al Nahyan finished first at the Jan. 27 championship in the UAE and then was surrounded by controversy because the organizers refused to award Al Nahyan the gold medal after finding what they\’d only say then was a prohibited substance during their own immediate post-race drug test. Since this test wasn\’t the official FEI drug test, FEI officials refused to accept the organizers\’ ruling. Then, however, their initial test also showed the presence of methylprednisone, a corticosteroid.

And the confirmatory test of the B sample also found methylprednisone, but, according to the FEI statement, Al Nahyan “was not duly informed of the date and place of the confirmatory analysis of the B sample and was, therefore, unable to send a witnessing analyst to the laboratory, despite having requested the opportunity to be represented.”

The statement added, “While noting the existence of two positive results, the Judicial Committee nevertheless decided that the fact that [Al Nahyan] did not have the opportunity to have a witness present compromised his rights to such an extent that the results had to be disregarded. The Judicial Committee cited several relevant decisions of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in reaching its ruling, which terminates the proceedings.

“Consequently, the results of the FEI World Endurance Championship remain unchanged as published on the FEI website. The FEI Secretariat will ensure that Sheik Al Nahyan will receive the gold medal and all relevant prizes won by him. The Judicial Committee is not ordering a new official award ceremony to be held.”

But this Judicial Committee decision doesn\’t completely wrap up the World Endurance Championship. The awards ceremony, where the organizers declined to present Al Nahyan the gold medal, despite FEI officials\’ insistence, is the subject of its own investigation and may be examined by the Judicial Committee too.