If the cross-country runner Robel Fsiha is convicted of a doping offense, he will get rid of last year's European gold.

Fsiha is the latest in the line of notable doping crimes in Swedish athletics, where among others Meraf Bahta and Adil Bouafif have been punished with suspensions.

"There have been too many doping offenses in recent years and it damages confidence in Swedish athletics internationally, no talk about it," says expert Kajsa Bergqvist.

- Sweden has been a leading country, but it is clear that all wrongdoing has had a negative impact on our reputation. At the same time, I know that the Athletics Association is working hard to come up with these issues. Then the question is whether it can be done even more, she continues.

One problem area for the anti-doping agencies is to better identify athletes who build training abroad for long periods.

- More resources are needed to be able to do even more tests even in the off-season, when the active ones may be abroad for several months in a row. Then it is about long and expensive trips, but maybe you still need to spend money on it, says Kajsa Bergqvist.

Doping tests in conjunction with competitions are common, but when it is not in season the frequency varies.

For example, wrestler Jenny Fransson stated that she had not been tested for four months prior to her positive doping test in early February.

- It is a and o that you are also regularly tested during the build-up phase, not just during competitions. If you are among the foremost in the world in your sport, it must not pass four months without being tested, Bergqvist says.

The European gold medalist himself tells Expressen that he has only eaten a medicine tablet for colds.

- As an elite athlete, you are responsible for what you put in you. Being abroad and taking a medicine without being 100 percent sure what it contains ... it's bad. I would never have thought of it during my career.

CLIP: Swedish European champion suspended for doping (February 7, 2020)

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