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Ovtcharov facing doping ban after B-sample returns positive
Sep 30, 2010, 14:33 GMT
Hanover, Germany - Ukrainian-born German table tennis player Dimitrij Ovtcharov faces the possibility of a two-year ban for doping after his B-sample returned positive for the banned substance clenbuterol.
The four-time European team champion, who was suspended on Wednesday by Germanys Table Tennis Federation (DTTB), has protested his innocence, claiming the positive test is a result of eating contaminated food during the China Open in August.
'Dimitrij has not been found guilty,' the player's lawyer Michael Lehner noted on Thursday.
The result of the B-sample had been expected as it is very rare that it differs from the initial A-sample.
The news of Ovtcharov's doping result comes the same day as Tour de France winner Alberto Contador was provisionally suspended for also testing positive for clenbuterol.
'Both cases are not comparable,' said Lehner.
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