Waterpolo player fails dope test

Top waterpolo national team player Matthew Zammit has been "provisionally suspended" from all water sport activities after failing a dope test.

The Aquatic Sports Association, which imposed the suspension, said yesterday it had been informed that Mr Zammit had tested positive in a doping test after Malta's game against Turkey on May 1. The information was communicated by the executive director of the international swimming federation (Fina).

Mr Zammit, 22, faces the prospect of a maximum two-year worldwide ban by Fina. However, a spokesman for the world governing body said a decision on disciplinary measures could take "weeks or months".

"In accordance with Fina regulations, Mr Zammit has been provisionally suspended from all ASA activities until such time as the relative Fina procedures are concluded," the local association said.

The ASA did not say what the banned substance was, however, sources said the player was taking weight loss supplements that could have contained a substance banned by the World Anti-doping Agency.

When contacted, Mr Zammit confirmed he had been taking "medication" but did not specify what it was. "I have nothing to say," he said when asked for his reaction to the provisional suspension imposed by the ASA.

Mr Zammit, nicknamed Xellugi (lefty), plays for St Julians and is one of the best waterpolo players around having also played for an Italian second division team last year.

This is the first time a local waterpolo player has failed a doping test.

The game against Turkey, which Malta lost 12-5, was one of three international games played in Istanbul as part of the men's qualification tournament for the 2010 European Water Polo Championships.

Doping cases are based on the notion of strict liability, which means the player cannot contest his guilt, even if he is not aware of the legality of substances in his medicine. He can only argue for the punishment not to be severe.

The player's legal advisers, Giannella Caruana Curran, Gianluca Caruana Curran and George Hyzler, are shortly expected to make submissions with Fina to mitigate the punishment. "We do not wish to comment further at this stage," Dr Giannella Caruana Curran said when contacted.

Malta lost all three games in Istanbul and Mr Zammit scored two goals in the last game against Slovakia.

The ASA suspension means Mr Zammit will miss the first games of the national league summer championship with St Julians starting next week. His suspension is a blow to the team, which this year was aiming to finish among the front-runners.