Andrew Bree's hopes of competing in the Olympics remain in serious doubt despite the fact that the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) have said that athletes could receive a 'reduced sanction' if they can 'establish that the use of such a specified substance was not intended to enhance their performance', writes RTÉ Sport's John Kenny.
Bree, the only Irish swimmer to make the Olympic Games so far, faced an uncertain future when it was disclosed by RTÉ Sport that he had failed a drugs test and his participation in Beijing was in serious doubt.
Bree has now officially registered an adverse finding for Levmethamfetamine, which is contained in the US version of a Vicks Inhaler, the same product that led to a three month ban for Scottish skier Alain Baxter, who won an Alpine bronze medal at Salt Lake City in 2002.
But there was some chink of light for the 26-year-old after the Wada statement said that athletes could receive a 'reduced sanction' if they can 'establish that the use of such a specified substance was not intended to enhance sport performance'.
Bree believes his positive drugs test was caused by him 'unwittingly taking a stimulant' in an over-the-counter decongestant.
While refusing to comment on the specifics of the Bree case, Wada media relations manager Frederic Donze claimed that Levmetamphetamine is a 'specified substance' and 'may come under unintentional anti-doping rule violations because of their general availability in medicinal products which are less likely to be successfully abused as doping agents'.
However, Bree still cannot compete and will have to face a Fina disciplinary panel to explain the presence of the drug in his system, and the onus is on him now to convince the world governing body of swimming that he was not seeking to gain an unfair advantage by his actions.
