Cassara replaces banned Baldini
Wednesday, 6 August 2008 12:21Andrea Cassara has been named as an Olympic replacement for banned Italian foil fencer and world number one Andrea Baldini.
Any hope Baldini had of competing in Beijing were dashed on Monday when his positive test for a banned diuretic was confirmed by the B sample.
He tested positive for furosemide at the European Championships in Kiev last month.
'We are very upset and sorry this is happening. The free spot will go to Cassara,' said Andrea Cipressa, head of the Italian Olympic delegation.
Cassara was first on the list of Italian fencers not to qualify for the games.
Baldini has claimed he is victim of a conspiracy, telling Italian media at the weekend: 'I do not have any proof. But if I did not take the drug, which is found in the samples ... it could have been put in a bottle or a flask.'
Furosemide is more commonly known as Lasix and appears on the World Anti-Doping Agency's banned drug list in its capacity as a masking agent.
