Rob Dingman President/CEO of the AMA has written to the President of FIM, Vito Ippolito to express “dissatisfaction” over the handling of James Stewart’s anti-doping violation, reports Vital MX.
Rob Dingman President/CEO of the AMA has written to the President of FIM, Vito Ippolito to express “dissatisfaction” over the handling of James Stewart’s anti-doping violation, reports Vital MX.
And after reading the letter I think it would be reasonable to say that the AMA are encouraging Bubba to appeal against what they call an “arbitrary and capricious” sanction.
News of FIM’s punishment against Stewart initially broke on the evening of December 16, 2014 (UK time) when a press release from Stewart’s team (Yoshimura Suzuki) stated that they had been informed by FIM International Disciplinary Court (CDI) that there would be a sanction placed on Stewart.
That was followed later that day with the official press release from FIM. It confirmed that Stewart’s ban would run for a total of 16 months – backdated to the time of the sample collection. The FIM also announced that all results he obtained in competitions whilst disqualified would be cancelled with all the resulting consequences including forfeiture of any medals, points and prizes.
This leaves JS7 out of Supercross for 2015 but effectively the AMA Outdoor season too, although he is eligible to race the last two rounds at Utah, Tooele and Ironman, Crawfordsville. He would also be free from his suspension in time for the big money Monster Energy Cup.
No explanation has been given by the FIM for the magnitude of Stewart’s disqualification. We suspect many fans would like to know the legal basis for the lengthy disqualification.
Dingman’s letter to the FIM makes it clear that the AMA has not been informed officially by FIM and he is clearly unhappy with the handling of Stewart’s case saying that the FIM has been “unprofessional” and that it has “failed in its obligations to the AMA”.
It is clear we have not heard the last of this one – it is set to run and run.
You can read the letter in full on Vital MX here.
