Breaking News: James Stewart Suspended For 16 Months 1

Updated! The FIM is now out with their ruling, which includes the reasoning behind their decision, and length of the ban (16 months, retroactive to the date of the positive drug test). That means pending an appeal, James will miss the entire 2015 Supercross season, and all but two rounds of the 2015 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship series. You can see all the details of their release at the bottom of the page.

Earlier this year, James Stewart failed a post-race drug screening, and was hit with a provisional suspension of undetermined length by the FIM. That provisional suspension has now been made official.

What We Know:

• James failed a test following the 2014 Seattle round of the Monster Energy Supercross series.
• He didn't have the required paperwork in place for a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) for the banned substance (reportedly a prescription for Adderall).
• He had a hearing in Switzerland in October, 2014.

• At this point, we're still waiting to hear the length of the penalty. UPDATE! It's 16 months, retroactive to April 12th of 2014.

What We Think:

The length of time to get from the provisional suspension to this point (at least from the outside, looking in) seems to have crept by at a woefully slow pace. With the new Supercross season rapidly approaching, we'd hope that an appeal could be heard quickly. While he may not get the answer he wants, we'd hope he at least gets the opportunity to be heard as soon as possible.

Here's the word from Yoshimura Suzuki.

FIM Reaches Conclusion on James Stewart Case

CHINO, CA (December 16, 2014) – Yoshimura Suzuki Racing is reporting that James Stewart has received notification from the FIM with a penalty regarding his anti-doping violation. The news came eight months to the day from the test at this years' Seattle Supercross event where he tested positive for amphetamines from his prescribed Adderall. The ruling lays out a punishment that severely affects the entire 2015 season for James and the Yoshimura Suzuki team.

Suzuki Motor of America and Yoshimura Racing will continue their unwavering support for Stewart during this difficult period and like all the fans hope to see him line up at the gate as soon as his ineligibility is lifted.

"I'm extremely disappointed to say the least," said Stewart. "We plan to appeal as I personally feel that the punishment far outweighs the situation; especially since I received both WADA and USADA approvals that prove I'm not cheating. I'm bummed for everyone involved: my family, my team, my sponsors, the promoters and most of all the fans. Unfortunately, I've had to be very quiet in regards to this situation but I'll be telling the full story in the next couple weeks so everyone can understand what we've been going through. Thank you all for your continued support."

Yoshimura Suzuki Racing's James Stewart has announced plans to be at the season-opening round of the 2015 AMA Supercross Championships on Saturday, January 3 at Angel Stadium in Anaheim to support his team, teammate, sponsors and fans.

Here's the text of the FIM announcement.

On 12 April 2014, Mr James Stewart, Jr. underwent an anti-doping test conducted by the FIM at the round of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, held at the Century Link Field, Seattle, Washington. The urine sample obtained from Mr Stewart revealed the presence of a prohibited substance (amphetamine) listed in the category S6. Stimulant under a) Non-specified Stimulants and prohibited in competition under the FIM Anti- doping Code (CAD) in force.

On 17 June, in accordance with Article 7.6.1 CAD, the FIM provisionally suspended Mr Stewart with effect from 20 June pending the CDI’s decision adjudicating on the merits of the case. Since then, Mr Stewart has been provisionally barred from participating in any competition. The case was referred to CDI and Mr Anand Sashidharan of India was appointed by the Director of the International Commission of Judges (CJI) as CDI Single Judge to hear the case.

In consideration of Article 8.1.1 CAD and Article 3.3.2 of the FIM Disciplinary and Arbitration Code, Mr Stewart was heard by the CDI during a Hearing at the Best Western Hotel at Chavannes-de-Bogis, Switzerland, on 23 October 2014.
The CDI has now issued its decision. On the merits, the CDI found that it was undisputable that Mr Stewart had committed an anti-doping rule violation under Article 2.1 CAD which states in particular that “[i]t is each Rider’s personal duty to ensure that no Prohibited substance enters his or her body(...)”. The CDI further found that this was the first anti-doping rule violation recognised against Mr Stewart.

Taking into consideration all the evidence adduced, the CDI considered that, on the balance of probabilities, Mr Stewart had established how the prohibited substance had entered his body. Accordingly, the Judge was able to apply Article 10.5.2 of the CAD. Considering all the circumstances and having regard to Mr Stewart’s degree of fault and negligence, the CDI Single Judge came to the conclusion that the appropriate sanction to be imposed on Mr Stewart was a period of ineligibility of 16 (sixteen) months. The CDI further ruled that the period of ineligibility would commence on 12 April 2014 (date of the collection of the sample). Consequently, the period of ineligibility imposed on Mr. James Stewart will end on 11 August 2015 at midnight.

In accordance with Article 10.8 of the CAD, the CDI ruled that Mr Stewart is disqualified from all competitions in which he participated (including the four rounds of the 2014 national Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Series) subsequent to the collection of the sample (12 April 2014) and all results he obtained in those competitions are cancelled with all the resulting consequences including forfeiture of any medals, points and prizes. The FIM will therefore modify the rankings of the 2014 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, accordingly.

An appeal against the decision of the CDI may be lodged by the parties before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne (Switzerland) within 21 days of the date of receipt of the CDI decision pursuant to Article 13.6 of the 2014 FIM Anti-Doping Code.

The full reasoned decision was notified to Mr Stewart on 12 December 2014 and will be published on the FIM website in due course.