Americas Cup winning crewman fails dope test 02/10/2007 00:00

2 October 2007

MADRID - New Zealand's Simon Daubney, a crew member of America's Cup winners Alinghi, has tested positive for substances linked to cocaine during this year's competition in Spain, organizers said.

Alinghi announced on Thursday that Daubney had resigned after he tested positive for a banned substance, confirming a report in Italian daily Gazzetta dello Sport that one of its team members had returned a positive test.

The 48-year-old has blamed the positive drug test, the first in the history of the America's Cup since it was created in 1851, on a spiked drink or other contamination.

He said last week that he hoped to return to Alinghi once his name was cleared. Initial press reports said Daubney had tested positive for cannibis.

But an analysis of a sample of his urine revealed the presence of two metabolites of cocaine, the organizing authority of the America's Cup, America's Cup Management, said Monday in a statement.

Daubney underwent urine testing along with up to six other members of his team on June 23 as part if regular testing carried out during the race, it added.

Last week several witnesses, including Alinghi skipper Brad Butterworth and fellow New Zealand sailor Russell Coutts of rival outfit Oracle, testified in Daubney's defence before an America's Cup Jury in London.

The jury said it was "completely satisfied" that Daubney told the truth when he stated that he had not knowingly taken cocaine or any other banned substance and said "there was no question" of Alinghi being involved in organized doping.

It is up to the Internatioanl Sailing Federation to determine a penalty. Under the America's Cup rules Alinghi cannot lose their trophy as they stipulate crew members are individually responsible for doping.

But Daubney risks a two-year suspension which would rule him out of the next cup regatta in Valencia in 2009.

Alinghi retained the America's Cup after beating challenger Emirates Team New Zealand 5-2 in the best-of-nine series in Valencia, Spain last July.

[Copyright AFP with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news