Magdeburg's Portner acquitted: Nada examines verdict

A hair sample saved him in the end. World-class goalkeeper Nikola Portner can now get back to his favorite pastime of defending balls. The weeks of frustration and anxiety are over. The Handball Bundesliga has cleared the Swiss player from SC Magdeburg and lifted his suspension from training and competition. This was announced by the HBL on its homepage on Wednesday. This means that the dream duo in goal for last year's Champions League winners is back together.

Managing Director Schmedt is looking forward to the goalkeeping duo

"With the HBL's decision, we see our assessment of the Nikola Portner situation confirmed and are delighted that we can start the new season with our goalkeeping duo Sergey Hernandez and Nikola Portner again after the summer break following the lifting of the suspension," said SCM Managing Director Marc-Henrik Schmedt.

The expert opinions of independent and renowned doping experts obtained in the further proceedings confirmed "that the amount of the banned substance detected in the athlete's body was so small that active ingestion and a performance-enhancing effect can be ruled out and that neither intentional nor culpable ingestion can be assumed", the league association said.

Hair and urine samples exonerate Portner

Rather, it is assumed "that contamination through no fault of his own via an alternative route conclusively explained by the athlete is far more likely. This is also confirmed by the hair and urine samples taken." During a court-ordered search of Portner's home, the Magdeburg public prosecutor's office also found no evidence "that would have allowed conclusions to be drawn about the consumption of methamphetamine". The investigation was discontinued at the end of April. Previously, on 10 April, a positive A-sample was found by the Nada during a competition test of the goalkeeper from SC Magdeburg.

In addition, the HBL emphasized that "the athlete's lifestyle and habits, which have been confirmed by many people accompanying him, make the intentional use of doping substances appear very unlikely". The HBL Executive Committee will therefore refrain from imposing a ban. This decision was unanimous. As a member of the committee, Schmedt was neither involved in the deliberations nor in the decision-making process.

Nada is reviewing the decision

However, the HBL's decision is not yet watertight. The German National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) has taken note of the decision and will carefully examine and evaluate the reasons for the decision and decide whether to appeal, Nada announced immediately.