Cabreira successfully appeals protease charge, 2nd time lucky

Well it sounds like a technicality, but it was enough to get him off...

Cabreira was suspended for two years in February for "tampering with a doping control sample". He was accused of using an enzyme called protease to defeat a doping control. The enzyme is able to break down traces of EPO in the urine. According to Lusa, Cabreira appealed the penalty on the grounds that the control had been conducted according to "methods not approved by the World Anti-Doping Agency" and that the offending substance "was not part of the list of banned products." It is the second time Cabreira has defeated a doping case on appeal. In August, 2008 he was suspended for ten months for failing a doping control, but the suspension was overturned on appeal.

If I understand this correctly, and I may not have a complete view, the appeal was won firstly because of irregularities in the way the sample was taken, leaving some doubt over who may or may not have altered the sample; and secondly because the enzyme in question is not a performance-enhancing substance taken by the athlete and thus listed as a banned product. Seems to me it should be listed, just as masking agents are (although in this case the agent is used outside of the body). Seems also logical that adding an enzyme - or anything, really - is tantamount to tampering with a sample. However in this case there was doubt, and the athlete quite rightly is given the benefit.