Doping charges against Bahraini 400m world champion Salwa Eid Naser dismissed due to technicality

London: The doping charges brought against Bahrain’s 400 metre world champion Salwa Eid Naser have been dismissed, the Athletics Integrity Unit announced on Tuesday. The 22-year-old Naser was provisionally suspended in June and charged with failing to meet ‘whereabouts’ criteria. The AIU charged the Nigerian-born runner with four alleged ‘whereabouts’ failures which included three missed tests between March 2019 and January this year. But the World Athletics Disciplinary Tribunal did not confirm a missed test from April 2019, therefore meaning Naser had not missed three tests within 12 months which is required to prove an anti-doping violation. The AIU added that it has the right to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Naser stunned athletics in Doha last year when she powered to the third-fastest 400m time in history to win the world title. Her time of 48.14 seconds has only been bettered by East German Marita Koch in 1985 and former Czech runner Jarmila Kratochvilova in 1983. The AIU is the independent anti-doping watchdog for track and field, set up in 2017.