Actually, the focus at SC Magdeburg should be on the anticipation of the DHB Cup Final Four. But a possible doping offense by keeper Portner clouds the anticipation. Is the SCM even threatened with a point deduction? One thing is already clear: the SCM is desperately looking for a short-term replacement.
On Wednesday afternoon, all seemed right with the best handball team in the world. The upcoming DHB Cup Final Four was the topic when Sportschau and MDR were guests at SC Magdeburg. SCM coach Bennet Wiegert formulates sentences like: “It’s about a chance for a title.” What Wiegert already had to know at that point, and what was then sent out to the editorial staff in a press release from the SCM at 6:31 p.m. on Wednesday evening: SCM keeper Nikola Portner is suspected of doping.
“Few details known”
The six-sentence message states that Portner and the Handball Bundesliga informed the club that there was a “positive competition control” and that proceedings had been initiated against the goalkeeper. It goes on to say: “So far we have few details about the accusation and the status of the proceedings.”
Rehearsal at the game at BHC – questions remain unanswered
The day after the announcement, a little more is known: After Sports in the East-Information the suspicious sample was taken in March: On March 24th. in Düsseldorf during the SCM’s 30:27 victory at Bergischen HC. Portner saved four of 13 balls in the game.
It remains unclear what was found at Portner’s home. Also whether the 30-year-old asked for the B sample to be opened.
SCM is looking for Portner’s replacement
After Sports in the EastAccording to information, SC Magdeburg apparently does not expect that Portner will be able to dispel the doping suspicion by the weekend. Because: According to our information, the Champions League winner is desperately looking for a replacement. The SCM therefore does not want to go to the cup semi-finals with the young goalkeepers Niclas Behrendt or Tim Mohs. Instead, a new second goalkeeper behind number one Sergey Hernandez Ferrer is to be hired at short notice.
Almost a third parried balls
Portner’s absence from the Final Four at the weekend is a sporting loss for SC Magdeburg. With an average of 32 percent of balls saved, the Swiss is an important support for the Magdeburg team. Just last Sunday in the SCM’s 40:31 win in the Bundesliga against Stuttgart, Portner defused eight of the 23 balls that came his way.
Portner: “No anti-doping regulations violated”
Portner commented on Instagram on Wednesday. He was “deeply shocked,” he wrote on Wednesday evening under a picture of a child with a basketball. And: “I very much regret the situation and will do everything in my power to demonstrate that I have not violated any anti-doping regulations and that I have always acted in accordance with the values of sport and will continue to act in the future.”
There is no risk of points being deducted
In the fight for the championship, the SCM is not threatened with a subsequent deduction of points, even if Portner is proven to have committed a doping offense. According to the Anti-Doping Regulations (ADO) of the German Handball Federation (DHB), such sanctions are only examined if doping offenses can be proven in more than two members of a team. Under point 11.2 in the ADO of the DHBV it specifically states: “If a violation of anti-doping regulations was found in more than two members of a team in a team sport during the duration of a competition event, the competition organizer imposes consequences in addition to those that apply individual athletes who have committed anti-doping rule violations, an appropriate sanction against the team (e.g. loss of points, cancellation of the results of the competition or competitive event or other sanction).”
——-
Dirk Hofmeister
