The municipality of Venice has suspended gondolier Renato Busetto for 13 months and canceled his second place in the historic Regatta of the City of the Doges after testing positive for cannabis, local newspapers report.
This is the first time in the history of the famous regatta that a participant has found positive for an anti-doping test.
The competition takes place every year in September on the Grand Canal in Venice, where different types of boats compete, including
two-oar
“
gondolini
” - boats that are lighter and faster than
traditional
“
gondolas
” - on which the Busetto brothers competed.
Read also Doping: "We will be very vigilant" ahead of the 2024 Olympics, warns AFLD
Renato and Roberto Busetto, won second place in this sporting event on September 5th.
During the usual doping controls at the end of the competition, which are carried out only on the teams occupying the first and second place, one sample was found positive.
After a further examination of the blood and urine samples taken on September 5, the municipal commission responsible for deciding in these situations ordered the suspension for 13 months of Renato Busetto.
Read alsoDoping: Ukraine organized alleged random checks
According to Venezia Today, a local newspaper, the second place will not be reallocated but will remain vacant.
For Busetto's lawyer, this is an “
unfair
”
decision
towards the brothers, who will be excluded from the next historic Regatta.
The modern regatta was born in 1841 when the municipality of Venice asked the Austrian authorities to allow the organization of an annual boat race along the Grand Canal in order to encourage gondoliers to practice.
