The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed Indian swimmer Amar Muralidharan’s appeal against a two-year ban imposed by the Indian National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA). Muralidharan, a freestyle and butterfly swimmer who has won three gold medals at the Asian Games, tested positive for methylhexaneamine on 26 August 2010 during the National Aquatic Championships in Jaipur, India. Eleven other Indian athletes tested positive for methylhexaneamine ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Muralidharan initially appealed the decision to India’s Anti-Doping Appeal Panel, which confirmed NADA’s ban on 3 June 2014. Muralidharan then appealed to the CAS, arguing that the challenged decision should be annulled as his sample had not been processed in accordance with NADA regulations and the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) International Standard for Testing (IST). He also further argued that the delay to his case had denied him justice, and his ban should therefore by nullified.

‘Based on the evidence, the Sole Arbitrator found that the errors evident in the document package produced by the laboratory were purely typographical and had no impact on the reliability or integrity of the sample’, read a CAS statement. ‘The errors, while indeed unfortunate and avoidable, were not so fundamental as to call into question the laboratory’s compliance with the IST thereby nullifying the positive sample. Furthermore, the Sole Arbitrator found that while the NADA’s delays in handling the athlete’s case were excessive, such delays did not fundamentally violate Mr. Muralidharan’s procedural rights.’ The CAS said that the full award would be published on its internet site in the coming weeks.

Muralidharan’s ban expired in November last year. In 2013, the Indian Anti-Doping Appeal Panel accepted Jyotsna Pansare’s argument that her methylhexaneamine positive had been caused by her use of cosmetic products that contained methylhexaneamine, which sometimes features in cosmetic products, but labelled as ‘geranium oil’. The backstroke specialist’s ban was reduced to one year.