Did French European Champion Amdouni dope?
von Hajo Seppelt, Grit Hartmann, Edmund Willison, Jörg Winterfeldt
ARD information leads to serious accusations against the Frenchman. In the course of the research, an informant received death threats. It is the second dubious case for France in the recent past.
Morhad Amdouni, 31, born in Corsica with Tunisian roots, had long been considered one of the upcoming stars of French athletics. Yet Achilles' tendon issues, knee problems and sciatica stunted his career development. It was only last year at the age of 30 that Amdouni made a huge leap. At the 2018 European Championships in Berlin, he won gold over 10,000 metres and bronze over 5,000 metres.
But now there is much to suggest that his spectacular late career development is far less miraculous than it first seemed.
The ARD Doping Editorial Team is in possession of Whatsapp exchanges involving Amdouni that arouses suspicion as to whether the Frenchman could have been doping in 2017. Insiders from the French Athletics Federation are already suspicious of his performances and his latest actions have only added to the scepticism. After weeks of training in Qatar, and as his teammates gradually arrived for the World Championships in Doha, Amdouni suddenly left the desert in a hurry. The timing was striking.
Shortly before, the ARD had requested an interview with Amdouni, through the French federation, to confront him about his suspicious activities. Before the request, Amdouni had already learned of ARD’s investigation into him. Amdouni then withdrew from the World Championships in Doha. The official reason: injury.
13 different whereabouts within 15 days
Amdouni at the Diamond League-Meeting in Brussles 2015 © imago images / Belga Foto: BelgaDespite taking part in only a few competitions and very little preparation, Amdouni celebrated his biggest wins in the past few years.
For the French Athletics Federation, the process is tantamount to a catastrophe. It was only in spring that the country's best female marathon runner Clemence Calvin fled from French doping control officers in Morocco. The circumstances are somewhat controversial, the evidence debated, but doping authorities emphatically believe that Calvin wanted to prevent doping control by any means. Calvin had changed her whereabouts 13 times within 15 days. Disciplinary proceedings are underway.
In Amdouni's case, the French federation stated that it is "not aware of any wrongdoing related to the use of doping substances on behalf of the French athlete Morhad Amdouni".
The first question marks about Amdouni already arose from his competition schedule in past years. In 2016, he competed often - the IAAF, the international athletics federation, list him as racing 12 times. His activity then decreased rapidly to no more than three events per year. But with his new limited schedule, Amdouni achieved his greatest successes. Most recently he ran the Paris marathon in an impressive time of 2:09hrs. It was his first even marathon and he was apparently little prepared.
Doping experts consider a conspicuously low number of competitions combined with great successes to be one of many suspicious parameters in the typical profile of a doper.
"One pack of EPO, one pack of growth hormone"
Amdouni also likes to train alone or in small groups. And his preferred training destinations are usually in remote or faraway places. Sometimes the Frenchman trains in Doha, sometimes in the Moroccan plateau of Ifrane or in South Africa and other times in Corsica. For doping control officers, such athletes are extremely difficult to locate for testing. "It is well known that it is more complicated for an agency like ours to set up doping controls abroad than on our own national territory," says Mathieu Teoran, Secretary General of the French Anti-Doping Agency AFLD, "it is more expensive and requires more information."
The ARD Doping Editorial Team have come into possession of Whatsapp communications between Amdouni and a dealer who claims to have procured doping substances for the Frenchman. In the exchanges he demands Amdouni to pay him the money he is owed. "If I don't get my money tomorrow, Mourad, you'll be sorry and you'll be the loser because I don't like people taking advantage of me," it says, "just so you know you bought a pack of EPO and you got a pack of growth hormone!!!!". And further: "I'll tell you again, I want my money tomorrow, 150 Euro." The different spelling of the first name can be explained by the fact that in North Africa the Frenchman is also called Mourad Hamdouni.
[...]
Lien pour la suite
. Remarque pour le contrôleur il faut mieux ça que croiser Mobylette et devoir le courser ... si vous voyez à qui je fais allusion.
