Motocross rider James Stewart has been banned from motocross racing for 16 months for violating the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) Anti-Doping Code, FIM confirmed in a statement on Wednesday following a ruling last week by its International Judicial Commission and International Disciplinary Court (CDI).
Stewart plead his case in October at a hearing in Switzerland, and has linked the positive test for amphetamines to Adderall, a prescribed medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The International Judicial Commission did not dispute this claim, but under the Anti-Doping Code "it is each Rider's personal duty to ensure that no Prohibited substance enters his or her body," according to an excerpt quoted in the FIM statement.
"I'm extremely disappointed to say the least," Stewart said, in a statement provided by his Yoshimura Suzuki Racing team on Tuesday night.
The ban is dated retroactively to April 12, 2014, when Stewart tested positive for amphetamines in a urine test at the Seattle Supercross event, a Monster Energy AMA Supercross FIM World Championship event. The ban will keep him out of competition for the entire 17-stop 2015 Monster Energy AMA Supercross season and all but the final two events of the 12-stop 2015 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship series. He has also been stripped of all points he earned in the 2014 Lucas Oil AMA Supercross and Motocross championship series following the test, including the four rounds of the outdoor Motocross series he competed in during a provisional suspension, according to the statement.
"Considering all the circumstances and having regard to Mr. Stewart's degree of fault and negligence, the CDI Single Judge came to the conclusion that the appropriate sanction to be imposed on Mr. Stewart was a period of ineligibility of 16 (sixteen) months," according to the FIM statement. "The CDI further ruled that the period of ineligibility would commence on 12 April 2014 (date of the collection of the sample). Consequently, the period of ineligibility imposed on Mr. James Stewart will end on 11 August 2015 at midnight."
The ban would leave him eligible for just two events on the 2015 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship calendar: August 15 in Tooele, Utah, and the Ironman event on August 22 in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Stewart was notified on December 12 and was given 21 days to lodge an appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
"We plan to appeal as I personally feel that the punishment far outweighs the situation; especially since I received both WADA and USADA approvals that prove I'm not cheating," Stewart said in his statement. "I'm bummed for everyone involved: my family, my team, my sponsors, the promoters and most of all the fans. Unfortunately, I've had to be very quiet in regards to this situation but I'll be telling the full story in the next couple weeks so everyone can understand what we've been going through. Thank you all for your continued support."