The ex-father-in-law and assistant of the athlete Ophélie Claude-Boxberger, whom she accused of poisoning, was released this Thursday by the court of Montbéliard (Doubs), and the middle-distance specialist condemned to him pay 2,500 euros in damages, we learned from lawyers for both parties.
"
We are extremely disappointed, because even if the confession is not intangible proof, he admitted six times
" to have injected EPO into the athlete, told
AFP
Me Béatrice Lobier, one of the lawyers of the five-time champion of France, specialist in the 3000 m steeplechase.
Claude-Boxberger "almost in a state of shock"
Me Lobier described his client as being "
almost in a state of shock
" after the announcement of the deliberation: "
We have just taken a scud
". According to
L'Est Républicain
, the young woman burst into tears at the announcement of the decision. The athlete will also have to pay 1,500 euros in legal costs, said his lawyer.
Alain Flaccus was tried for "
administration of a harmful substance
".
"
My client is relieved, it is a great satisfaction and we had been hoping for this for a long time
", welcomed Me Jean-Baptiste Euvrard, his lawyer.
Ophélie Claude-Boxberger accused her former handyman and her mother's ex-companion of having injected him with EPO without her knowledge, during a preparatory course for the Worlds-2019 in Doha, in Font-Romeu.
She had tested positive for this substance in September 2019. Alain Flaccus then accused himself of having himself injected EPO into the athlete during a massage on September 12, 2019 during this course, before changing several times of version to finally say innocent.
Back to the slopes in November?
Ophélie Claude-Boxberger was suspended in April for two years by the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD), however convinced of her guilt and which demanded an eight-year suspension.
But the members of the sanctions commission, an independent body of the AFLD, had obviously been sensitive to the defense of the sportswoman, who has always proclaimed her innocence, relying on the original confessions of Alain Flaccus.
Suspended since November 4, 2019, it could return to competition in November in Arnay le Duc (Côte d'Or).
