Raoni Monteiro at the Reef Hawaiian Pro, just prior to testing positive. Photo: WSL/Cestari
Last year, Raoni Monteiro tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs at the Billabong Pipe Masters. The Brazilian was suspended, and has since been banned from competition until August of 2016.
According to the press release, which doesn’t say which drugs he was taking, the use of the substance was unintentional and prescribed by a doctor. Although all signs indicate that Monteiro was unaware that what he was taking was on the list of PEDs, he has been suspended for 20 months for violating the WSL’s anti-doping policy.
“I made an honest mistake,” said Monteiro in the press release, “but there are rules to follow and I broke them. I am looking forward to working hard with the time out of competition, getting back to my best and competing again next year.”
Monteiro is the first to test positive for PEDs since 2005, when Neco Padaratz was suspended for anabolic steroids, which Padaratz said he was using to treat a back injury. Dave Prodan, VP of Communications, told Surfer Magazine that the delay in announcing the suspension was due to the fact that “it is a serious situation, the positive test requires an in-depth investigation with the opportunity to respond on their [Monteiro’s] end.”
