Andrea Iannone's doping ban extended to four years

The CAS said its three judges dismissed Andrea Iannone’s appeal against an 18-month ban and upheld the WADA’s counter appeal requesting a four-year sanction.

Andrea Iannone had tested positive for Drostanolone in a urine sample collected at an in-competition test at last year's Malaysian GP (File Photo).

MotoGP rider Andrea Iannone had his ban for doping with an anabolic steroid extended to four years on Tuesday because he could not prove contaminated meat was to blame.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said its three judges dismissed the Italian rider’s appeal against an 18-month ban and upheld the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) counter appeal requesting a four-year sanction.

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The 31-year-old Iannone’s ban originally imposed by the International Motorcycling Federation was extended to December 2023.

Iannone cited eating contaminated meat for his positive test for Drostanolone at the Malaysian Grand Prix in November 2019.

The CAS judges found he was not able to prove “the precise type of meat he had consumed nor the origin of said meat.”

"Moreover, the panel found that neither Andrea Iannone nor his experts were able to establish specifically that there was an issue of meat contamination by Drostanolone in Malaysia,” the court said in a statement.

Iannone had a contract to ride for Aprilia Racing Team Gresini. His only MotoGP victory came at the 2016 Austrian GP.