“In February, I tested positive for EPO after following the recommendations of a healthcare professional. As an athlete, I am responsible for everything I put into my body. I made a mistake and I take full responsibility for it.
At the end of 2025, I competed in Qatar. A few days later, I was contacted on Instagram by a healthcare professional based in Switzerland. He introduced himself as a supporter and suggested that we meet. During our first meeting, he told me about his connections with influential people, investment opportunities in one of the Gulf states and potential prospects for my career after retirement from sport. He also mentioned the possibility of patronage. I was 36 years old and thinking about life after my sporting career. So I was interested.
I was recovering from ankle surgery. The healthcare professional and I met again. The conversation shifted. He no longer talked about business but about my recovery. He presented me with a plan that, according to him, would get me back to peak physical condition within two months.
He showed me a substance that he described as safe and undetectable. He had prepared a vial of EPO. He told me not to tell anyone about it. I complied. I gave myself the first injection that same evening. That was my decision. And it was the biggest mistake of my life.”