“We just execute” | Relief

On August 9, just over three months ago, Jordan Diaz won the gold medal in the triple jump at the Paris Games. However, as reported by the media, the athlete did not show up for three doping controls between June 2021 and April 2022. According to the World Anti-Doping Code, missing three inspections will result in a two-year suspension. However, The athlete was rehabilitated after a late appeal against the first decision – this coincided with the day Jordan deserted -, when he had already accumulated the third.

After the publication of information about the “Jordan Diaz case” The publication contacted the president of the Royal Spanish Athletics Federation (RFEA).. He referred us to Ana Ballesteros, the institution’s secretary general, who assured that her position was “the same” as in the previous case that affected Mo Katira: “The rules must be respected and we are limited to doing what the competent authorities dictate.”

“We did not file an appeal in the previous case (Katir) and will not file an appeal in this case. We aim to execute,” explained Ballesteros, a repeat offender in the case.fulfill– throughout the entire telephone conversation. “We trust the competent authorities and apply the policies pursued by the RFED in some cases, and in others. “There is no other criterion on our part.”

Although the RFEA believes that their actions should be the same, there are significant differences between the Mo Katir case and the Jordan Diaz case.. In the case of Mo Katir, the rules were followed and a sanction was applied, but in the case of Jordan Diaz there was none, as World Athletics made an exception to the rules with the first of the tests, for which Diaz did not show up. A separate question is whether this regulation, the World Anti-Doping Code, should take into account situations like the one that happened to the Latino-Cuban in his first failure.

“We have information about Jordan since he became a Spanish citizen.“acquits Ballesteros, who claims to be unaware of the procedure carried out by World Athletics to exonerate Jordan Diaz after the Olympic champion missed three doping tests. “So the information you are working with (published this Wednesday) is – this is information that RFEA does not have. This. Therefore, our position is the same in both cases.”

When asked if the RFEA agreed with this decision, Ballesteros repeated the same answer. “We are not going to go into such questions. RFED is limited to the execution of decisions of competent authorities.. We are going to follow the law, apply it and comply with the relevant resolution.” The same response to the position of Raúl Chapado, President of the RFEA and, since last summer, Vice President of World Athletics, the organization that informed Jordan Diaz about the cancellation of his first, refused on the same day that he was notified of the third (which would have entailed sanctions).

After the conversation, Ballesteros wished to clarify with a message: “RFEA will resort to a case that is contrary to the rules of the World Anti-Doping Code, but in this case The athlete was not Spanish at the first failure, so the RFEA only knows the resolution, not the procedure. He doesn’t know this. Our position is to follow the rules“, he concluded.

Alvaro Martin, strong

Resigned on September 7 after saying goodbye to the elite with Olympic gold around his neck in Paris 2024. Alvaro Martin joined new Coordination Commission of the Spanish Anti-Doping Agency (SELAD). For this reason, Relevo wanted to know your position on the case concerning Jordan Diaz.

“Of course, the news is shocking.“, he said on the other end of the phone. “And I, instead of looking at the man (Jordan Diaz), looked at the anti-doping system itself. As a result, everything works very strangely. In this first warning World Athletics does not give an explanation to Jordan and applies the first refusal, but then demands these explanations… That is, Why does World Athletics issue this warning and then cancel it? I don’t know, it seems to me that there is some chaos in all this.“.

“It is not working well and the anti-doping system, whether national or international, needs to be as effective and transparent as possible,” Martin added. “We cannot from time to time know about the fate of this or that athlete because, for better or for worse, there was a failure in the anti-doping system. What’s the problem with all this? Well, it breeds doubt, uncertainty and mistrust. Not so much in the athletes, but in the system itself.“.

Nevertheless, Martin assures that he is not going to sit idly by. “My idea is to ask my national authorities for an explanation since we cannot contact the international authorities.”– he explains. “I want to demand transparency and efficiency, which I hope is practiced in our national agency. That this happened in Spain is unacceptable. We will demand all possible explanations.”

Thus, faced with a threat from Jordan Diaz himself, who assured that he would sue the media before the information was published, Martin was frank. “I don’t think it makes any difference,” says the former athlete and lawyer by training. “What Jordan mentions (in this tweet) is very difficult. I do not believe that such confidential data is being processed, that his right to privacy is being violated, or that it is causing undue harm. I’m afraid a journalist’s duty to inform trumps all that, so if I filed a lawsuit, I don’t think it would have any effect.“.