World Anti-Doping Agency has reopened the case of New Zealand sailor Simon Daubney 24/3/08

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has reopened the case of New Zealand sailor Simon Daubney, cleared after testing positive for cocaine during the last America’s Cup in Valencia. WADA’s director general New Zealander David Howman last week lodged papers appealing Daubney’s case with the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.

Daubney was suspended after becoming the first sailor in America’s Cup history to fail a doping test. The yachtsman subsequently resigned from Alinghi but had his suspension lifted in January by the International Sailing Federation.

The federation said it had based its decision on a ruling by the Swiss Olympic Association, whose disciplinary chamber ruled Daubney had not infringed any anti-doping rules.

Announcing the decision to reopen the case Howman said: “At the end of the day, WADA has a mandate to look at all such decisions internationally to see whether they have been consistently applied. If we feel there are some inconsistencies to discuss, we have the ability to put the case in front of the court.”

Papers are being served on Daubney, and he and the ISAF have 21 days to lodge a response or defence.