Just over two months after he lost his CAS appeal against his two year ban from cycling, disgraced German rider Stefan Schumacher has given up on a separate attempt to combat his disqualification from the Beijing Olympics.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport announced today that he has abandoned his efforts.
“The German cyclist Stefan Schumacher has withdrawn his appeal against the decision taken by the International Olympic Committee, in which he was found to have committed an anti-doping rule violation during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games,” it said in a statement.
“In January 2010 the CAS rendered a decision in another case relating to the same rider, in which his appeal against the decision of the International Cycling Union (UCI) to recognise the two-year suspension imposed by the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD) and to extend such suspension worldwide was dismissed.”
Schumacher tested positive for CERA during the 2008 Tour de France, where he won the two time trial stages. Traces of the product were found in his system in Beijing, where he was thirteenth in the TT. He did not finish the road race.
His main motivation for appealing the Olympic sanction was likely have been an effort to overcome the automatic life ban he now faces from competing in the Olympic Games.
Schumacher, who was racing with Gerolsteiner at the time, was initially banned from racing in France. This two-year sanction was converted to a worldwide ban by the UCI.
His sole success in the first CAS appeal was to have the end date of this sanction changed from February 2011 to August 28th of this year.
He said then that he intended appealing the decision to the Swiss federal court.
Former team manager Hans Michael Holczer has said that he will seek compensation from him. He and Schumacher had previously agreed on a dissolution of the contract from 15 October 2008, but as the CAS ruling judged the starting point for his ban to be August 28th, Holczer felt that he should be able to claim back the money for that period.
“It is about six weeks,” he said earlier this year. “I will speak with my lawyer as to whether there is a legal basis for the case.”
According to Feltet.dk, the sum concerned was estimated to be approximately 75,000 euro. Holczer also claimed that Schumacher has not returned equipment, valued at 6000 euros.
His former team-mate Davide Rebellin was also disqualified from the Olympic Games for the use of the same substance. He took silver in the road race and is challenging the confiscation of his medal to CAS.