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Mamabolo dope case drags on

EMBATTLED Comrades winner Ludwick Mamabolo's dope hearing is likely to drag on well into the new year if the lawyers representing him, Werksmans Attorneys, fail in their bid to have the matter thrown out.

Trevor Boswell, a director at Werksmans, said they had yet to present a case in Mamabolo's defence because they believed, based on the evidence presented last year by the SA Institute for Drug-Free Sport (Saids), the matter should be dismissed.

"We've not yet presented our case at all. At the end of Saids presenting their case, we brought the application that the entire matter to be discharged," Boswell said.

"The entire sample collection process - from the moment he passes the finish line, right up until the time it leaves the testing station for the laboratory - requires that he be notified that he has been selected for testing.

"The flaws we identified were in that entire process and didn't only relate to the urine sample or fluids or anything like that but the manner in which the entire process was conducted.

"Once the adjudicating panel gives judgment one of two things will happen: either they'll find in our favour and the entire hearing will be stopped, or they won't find in our favour and we will then be required to present our case."

Mamabolo tested positive for the banned stimulant methylhexaneamine moments after winning last year's Comrades Marathon but the man from Limpopo has maintained his innocence throughout the seven-month fallout.

Saids chief executive Khalid Galant said a decision by the independent panel on whether the flaws were substantial enough to have the matter dismissed was expected at the latest next week. "I'm hoping to get a decision from the tribunal before the end of the week. I think everyone came back to the office on Monday. I don't have control over the tribunal, so I'm waiting too, but I'll follow up with them this week," Galant said.

Boswell didn't say whether they were willing to go as far as the courts to get Mamabolo off the hook.

Mamabolo, meanwhile, has kept quiet about his chances of shrugging off the dope charges.

"For now I can't say anything to anybody, we're still under oath. Saying something might jeopardise my case," he said.