Olympic rider vindicated as four-year ban overturned –‘but I’ll never get that time back’
Olympic eventer Vittoria Panizzon said she is hugely relieved that her four-year ban and fine for a missed human dope test that was not her fault has been entirely overturned – but the year she has lost is one she will never get back.
H&H reported last year that the British-based Italian rider had been suspended by Italy’s national anti-doping organisation (NADO) as she was deemed to have failed to comply with the World Anti-Doping Association’s (WADA) athlete whereabouts scheme by avoiding testing. It applied to a single test rather than missing three, which is a different charge.
Vittoria was not allowed to compete – her national suspension was mirrored by the FEI – so she missed a season including the Olympics. She was also banned from any activity related to affiliated sport of any kind, so she was unable to coach riders for affiliated competition. Her career was “in tatters”, she told H&H at the time, even though she had complied with all the testing programme’s requirements, as she has for decades. She had updated her whereabouts on the system as required when she went on holiday after the eventing season had finished in 2023, but she was at a rural property where phone signal was poor, and when the NADO tester arrived at 5am, in the dark, “because of the multitude of gates and challenges accessing the property, the tester and I could not find each other according to the protocol, which allows no prior notice”.
Vittoria appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the highest sports court in the world, which this week annulled the ban and €3,000 fine.
Vittoria told H&H she is good at finding positives in seemingly negative situations. “But I’m struggling to find a positive from this,” she said.
“It had a really big impact. Effectively, I wasn’t allowed to do anything my business traditionally relied on; I couldn’t work with affiliated athletes or at affiliated venues, in all sports. It was a very-wide reaching effect when, in my case, nothing had been done wrong.”
In a statement, Vittoria added: “I am thrilled, relieved and so, so grateful to everyone for the support I have had from my owners, sponsors, the [Italian air force], friends, staff and the wider horse sport community, but I am also exhausted, frustrated and disheartened.”
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She pointed out that she has an unblemished record for all her time as a competitor, has never smoked, does not drink and rarely takes any medication. Despite this, she was “left to find my own way through a confusing and unfriendly process”.
She pointed out that the athlete whereabouts scheme covers all sports, so does not suit riders who are often competing in a field, or riding a horse, in the middle of nowhere with no internet or phone signal. To comply with the whereabouts scheme, athletes have to keep the system updated at all times.
“Like all my fellow riders I am a big advocate for clean sport and of course I understand that the FEI and [Italian equestrian federation] FISE need to be seen to be supporting the human anti-doping campaign, as well as administering their own equine anti-doping schemes which are vital for the welfare of our horses, but surely our governing bodies should feel able to give their human athletes support on how to navigate the whereabouts scheme,” she said.
“The federations should also offer advice on navigating the appeals process or even how to find a lawyer. Doing so wouldn’t mean they are being biased in favour of the athlete, it would just reflect the duty of care they owe that athlete particularly, as this CAS decision shows, because not all judgements are correct and reputations, careers and livelihoods are at stake.
“I have had to fight to clear my name, by myself, every day since January 2024. I sincerely hope that the FEI will now review the suitability of the whereabouts scheme for equestrian athletes or at least provide much-enhanced guidance to those on the scheme because currently the FEI is setting its human athletes up to fail and leaving them with no support when they are deemed to fall foul of the process.”
Legal costs
Vittoria had to bear her legal costs of about £70,000, with no support from any organisation. She said her CAS appeal would not have been heard had she not paid, in advance, her own costs – and those of the prosecution. She will get her fine back, and should recoup the court costs of about £20,000 but cannot claim back what she had to pay lawyers.
“I have had to borrow from my family and without their support I would not have been able to clear my name,” she said. “It can’t be justice that I would still be banned if I hadn’t been able to find the money.”
Vittoria said she is hugely grateful to her mother, who “encouraged me to keep fighting when I was just exhausted, and would have given up, even though that wasn’t the right thing to do”. She also thanked the people from all walks of life who supported her; close connections and many others, including the Italian air force, who stood by her throughout, and Susie Berry who has been competing Vittoria’s top horse DHI Jackpot, and been “incredibly understanding”.
“Thank you to my mother for having taught me to be resilient, particularly when my father died when I was a child, or it would have been much harder to cope,” she said.
The only thing that may be positive, she said, is that perhaps her experience may help make some changes that could help others in future.
She added: “Pleased as I am to be able to take part in the sport that I love with my head held high, at the end of the day I have lost a whole year of my competition life and I will never be able to get that time back.”
H&H put Vittoria’s concerns about the system and its implications for riders to the NADO, FISE and the FEI. The FEI did not comment, referring the request to the International Testing Agency (ITA). An ITA spokesperson said it could not comment on Vittoria’s case and directed the query to the NADO. The NADO did not respond.
The ITA spokesperson pointed out that the whereabouts system is set by WADA.
“Nevertheless, we absolutely acknowledge the importance of clean sport education for athletes to know their rights and responsibilities,” she said. “The ITA is leading an anti-doping education program for FEI athletes, including on-site booths and presentations, webinars and athlete-facing campaigns. Athletes can at any time contact the ITA when they have questions regarding clean sport, and we offer relevant resources on our dedicated athlete hub, including information and guidance on whereabouts and a dedicated FAQ.”
Vittoria said to her knowledge, no support system for athletes was in place at the time of her case.
A spokesperson for the Italian federation told H&H: “FISE expresses its satisfaction with the favorable outcome of the CAS decision, which has definitively recognised the position of Vittoria Panizzon. From the outset, we placed our trust in the integrity of the judicial process, and we firmly believe that this decision restores the sporting dignity owed to an athlete who continues to have much to contribute at a competitive level.”
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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.