16 December 2020

African badminton champion Kate Foo Kune to miss Tokyo Olympics after two-year doping ban

African badminton champion Kate Foo Kune has been handed a two-year doping ban that will see her miss the Olympic Games in Tokyo next summer.

The 27-year-old Mauritian tested positive for a banned steroid at the 2019 African Badminton Championships, but she insisted it was the result of a drink being spiked.

However, the Court of Arbitration for Sport found these claims to be unfounded and have now dealt her a two-year ban.

A statement from CAS said: "The Cas panel found the athlete's assertion of intentional spiking during the 2019 African Badminton World Championships devoid of supporting evidence."

Foo Kune, ranked No 105 in the world, will not be stripped of her 2020 African Championships title despite the positive test, a competition she has won four times.

The ban, which began on December 15, was imposed following an initial ruling from the Badminton World Federation that an ‘ill-intentioned individual’ was responsible for spiking her water and that Foo Kune ‘bore no fault or negligence’ for the incident.

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