Olympic Dreams Shattered: Spanish Runner’s Doping Ban Upheld

In a decision made public on Friday, the CAS decided that Katir’s four-year suspension, in effect since December 2024, will continue. The court also rejected the World Athletics Federation (WA)’s request to increase the sanction against Katir by an additional year. In other words, the Spanish athlete of Moroccan origin will not participate in any competition until February 2028. He will certainly miss the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

World 5,000m silver medalist, Mo Katir had been suspended in February 2024 for a period of two years, until February 6, 2026, by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for "an anti-doping rule violation resulting from three whereabouts failures within the last twelve months". On March 18, 2024, the AIU also notified him of an alleged violation of the WA anti-doping rules (rule 2.5) for having falsified written documents submitted as evidence, recalls El Estadio Deportivo.

The CAS specifies that Katir had admitted, during an interview with the AIU, to having falsified a boarding pass to make it appear that he had traveled on the day of one of the whereabouts decisions, but that he had not accepted the additional ADRV consequences proposed by the AIU. On December 11, 2024, the WA Disciplinary Commission concluded that the athlete had committed an anti-doping rule violation and suspended him for a period of four years from that date.

On January 9, 2025, Mo Katir appealed this decision to the CAS, requesting the annulment of the Disciplinary Commission’s decision. In turn, the latter filed a counter-appeal with the CAS on March 11, 2025, requesting that the athlete’s suspension period be extended to five years. Ultimately, the CAS rejected Katir’s appeal against his suspension, as well as the WA’s request.