Rabat – The Spanish-Moroccan runner Mohamed Katir has been suspended due to three violations related to his absence from drug testing centers for performance enhancing drugs and other banned substances.
The Moroccan-born athlete was expected to participate in the upcoming Paris Olympics next summer.
“Today, a unit of the International Association of Athletics Federations issued a decision to temporarily suspend me in accordance with what it considers a violation of the laws…the past 12 months,” the athlete said in a statement, adding that he received the suspension decision during disciplinary procedures.
However, Katir denied having committed the violations, indicating that he would appeal so that he could continue competing.
“I consider that there are no violations resulting from the three errors in determining my location during the past 12 months,” Katir said, stressing that he was in fact present at some of the centers mentioned in the disciplinary report.
To reinforce his argument, Katir said that he has submitted to several drug tests for urine and blood samples every few months the last few years, outside of contests, and he has never experienced any problems.
The Spanish Athletics Federation said in a statement that it “immediately suspended the athlete’s license” after it was officially informed that an investigation had been opened in this regard.
The 25-year-old long-distance runner won silver in the 5,000 meters race at both the World Athletics Championships in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, in 2023, and the European Championships in Munich in 2022.
He also won bronze in the 1,500 meters race at the World Cup in Eugene, Oregon in 2022.
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