LAUSANNE, Switzerland, August 24. ACCORDING to various news outlets in Venezuela, FINA has decided to lift the one-year antidoping suspension levied against Albert Subirats earlier this summer. With the lift of the suspension, Subirats is now eligible to compete at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico in October, and can qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games.
"Today, I spoke with FINA President Julio Maglione, who said everything was favorable for Albert," Venezuela Swimming Federation president Lourdes de Goncalves said. "In the course of the day, we made this official via our website."
Subirats had drawn a one-year ban due to missing tests stemming from administrative errors. He had developed a system by which he informed the Venezuelan Swimming Federation with his whereabouts, and the Federation had forwarded that information on to FINA. Logistically speaking, the rules state that an athlete has to inform FINA directly of their whereabouts, and the Venezuela Swimming Federation dropped the ball enough times that Subirats was considered to have missed enough tests to break the threshold.
FINA, however, will state in a release to come its reasons for showing mercy on Subirats.