Kevin McNab has spoken out after the FEI cleared him of doping Clifton Pinot, calling for the “protection of innocent parties.”
Extremely distressing
While the Australian eventer is a “strong supporter of anti-doping” he said the allegations which left him in “limbo for so long”, affected the whole of his team.
“It has been a very unpleasant experience and I hope that if anything good can come out of this it will be that my case and that of Jock’s serves as a reminder that the effect of doping-related allegations against the innocent are extremely distressing and the protection of innocent parties is as important as detection of the guilty,” said Kevin.
Resolved more quickly
His lawyer Rory Mac Neice backed up Kevin, saying it is “difficult to underestimate” the effect doping allegations can have. He stated while there should be a “robust and consistent” anti-doping procedure, he agreed with his client the innocent must be protected.
“I would like in future to see the FEI take an strong investigatory role following initial positives and to do so at an early stage to ensure that in cases where there is no fault, such as Kevin’s, these cases can be identified and resolved much more quickly,” Rory said.
‘Not a doper’
What kept Kevin going during this past tough ten months has been the knowledge that he is “not a doper”. He said he is very careful about what he feeds his horses and knew the positive test had to be the result of contamination.
The product in question was LessStressE, which had traces of the banned substance reserpine in it. Both Clifton Pinot and Clifton Promise and been given the calming supplement for a number of years, prior to competing.
The FEI tribunal agreed that the contamination had taken place at the manufacturing plant, and that neither Kevin or Jock Paget were responsible.
Very pleased
Kevin said he is “very pleased” it is finally over and that he can now move on with his career without the allegations “hanging over me”.
“It’s been tough for my whole team to be in limbo for so long,” he said. “Allegations such as the one that I have had to face affect many more people than the person accused and I thank them for their support, which has meant so much to me.”
Humbled by support
Kevin thanked Clifton Pinot’s owners Frances Stead and Russell Hall who have been “rocks” since the positive test result after Burghley last year.
“It is in times of adversity that you really find out the character of people and I have been humbled by the support that I have had from my owners,” he said.
Kevin and Clifton Pinot are entered for this year’s Burghley. They competed there for the first time in 2013, coming 14th, but were later disqualified following the failed drugs test.