Doha (AFP)

The European Champion of the 10,000 m Morhad Amdouni, implicated Thursday by a report of the German ARD, is in the sights of the French anti-doping, a new case for tricolor athletics in full Worlds in Doha.

Package in Qatar, officially for injury, Amdouni is the second French athlete medalist at the European Championships in Berlin in 2018 to be the subject of suspicions, after the marathoner Clemence Calvin, under the suspension of a temporary suspension for a doping control.

At this stage, the French is not officially subject to disciplinary proceedings for an anti-doping rule violation. But a report of the German television ARD, in point on the subject, puts it hard in question. ARD notably broadcast Whatsapp messages in which a person presented as a supplier of doping products claims payment to the French athlete, gold medalist over 10,000m and bronze over 5,000m at the last European Championships.

"If I do not get my money tomorrow, you'll regret (...) just so you know you bought a package of EPO and you have a box of growth hormone," say the messages, in a French filled with mistakes. 150 euros are claimed in Amdouni.

The French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD) reacted quickly after the broadcast of the report, clearly suggesting that it was investigating the French.

- Threat -

"We are fully aware of the information disseminated by ARD and suspicions and allegations against Mr. Amdouni," told AFP the Secretary General of the case, Mathieu Teoran. "The AFLD will continue to work in all confidentiality.The legal time is not the same as the media time," he added.

The ARD also mentions threats received by one of its informants, which it attributes to the entourage of the French athlete. Journalists also said that Amdouni was aware of their investigations when he dropped out of the Doha World Cup.

Contacted several times by AFP, Morhad Amdouni had not reacted yet Thursday. "Since June 2018, he had 15 controls, including 14 unexpected, all negative, and no show," said AFP one of his relatives.

For its part, the French Athletics Federation (FFA) wished to call for "caution" and the "presumption of innocence" in a statement.

"At present, we have not been informed of a potential anti-doping rule violation by Mr. Morhad Amdouni, but we take this information very seriously, which, if true, would be serious and would lead us to our responsibilities, "added FFA President André Giraud.

But this case is a new blow for the FFA and the French athletics, already facing this year the case Clemence Calvin, another tricolor star who did not see Doha. The runner-up, runner-up of Europe in Berlin in 2018, has been suspended provisionally since April 25 for having evaded a doping control in Marrakech a month earlier. She incurs up to four years of suspension. She defended herself by assuring that she had herself been assaulted by the controllers of the AFLD, leading the court to sue her for defamation.

Like Calvin, Amdouni had projected himself on the marathon after shining on the middle distance. And as the licensee of Martigues, the club Val d'Europe (Val-de-Marne) had shown promise. During his first test, in Paris, April 14, he had dazzled, finishing 8th and first French in 2 h 09 min 14 sec.

That day, Clemence Calvin, broke the French record, in 2 h 23 min 41 sec, after having ripped the right to run the test at the Council of State, for a procedural error of the AFLD. A performance that has not been approved.

© 2019 AFP