Hearing for Park Tae-hwan's doping case set for February 27

Park Tae-hwan

Seoul, Jan 28 (IANS)

FINA, swimming's world governing body has scheduled a hearing on star South Korean swimmer Park Tae-hwan's doping case Feb 27, the Korea Swimming Federation (KSF) said Wednesday. Park's doping scandal was revealed Monday. Former Olympic and World champion Park was tested positive for testosterone in July last year, and his Seoul-based agency Team GMP blamed the positive result on an injection given by a local hospital, reports Xinhua.

According to South Korean news agency Yonhap, the KSF has said Park was tested ahead of the Asian Games in September and was notified of the result last October.

Team GMP is seeking a legal action against the Seoul-based hospital, and state prosecutors said Tuesday Park received a shot of testosterone, a substance banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Prosecutors are considering indicting the doctor who administered the injection, surnamed Kim, on charges of professional negligence.

Though Park argued that he didn't intentionally take the banned substance, he may ultimately be held accountable for the result and face discipline, based on WADA's World Anti-Doping Code.

In Article 10, titled "Sanctions on Individuals," the code states that if an athlete can establish that he or she bears no fault or negligence, the athlete may not face sanctions. However, one exception cited by the same code is "the administration of a prohibited substance by the athlete's personal physician or trainer without disclosure to the athlete."

The code also points out: "Athletes are responsible for their choice of medical personnel and for advising medical personnel that they cannot be given any prohibited substance."

Park won a gold and a silver at the 2008 Beijing Games to become South Korea's first Olympic swimming medallist.

He also won silver in both events at the 2012 London Olympics, along with 400m gold in the world championships in 2007 and 2011. But the 25-year-old only won a silver and five bronze medals at the Asiad last year.