“A Disgrace to Hungary”: Tamás Kenderesi’s Doping Suspension Appeal Rejected by CAS

Hungarian Olympic bronze medalist Tamás Kenderesi called his four-year doping suspension a “disgrace to Hungary” while speaking to reporters on Monday.

Kenderesi, who has always maintained his innocence, had his suspension appeal rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on February 27 after three rescheduled appeal hearings.

The 28-year-old Olympian appeared on Hungarian news outlet HírTV to address the ordeal alongside his lawyer, Tamás Hergenrőde. Watch the interview in Hungarian here, where Kenderesi said this (translated):

“I was taken out of the everyday life and competition of a top athlete, I was in a nightmare that is incomprehensible. I know that I did not do anything related to doping, I always monitored what I was taking. There was a time when I called Ágnes Tiszeker (the head of the Hungarian Anti-Doping Association – Ed.) to ask if this medicine was legal, and she readily helped. Despite this, I ended up in a situation where they don’t even care what happens to me. After all, my career is at stake,”

He then went on to say that a four-year suspension, the maximum amount, for his first offense was a “disgrace to Hungary”.

In 2023, the 200 butterflier announced he was accused of doping due to what he says is an administrative error in his blood passport (an anti-doping program that tracks athlete’s blood overtime for drastic hormone changes or other irregularities). The discrepancies came from blood samples in 2022 and 2017. Yesterday, Kenderesi said that he had donated blood in 2017 and that it was incorrectly recorded as a transfusion in his blood passport.

The CAS’ rejected appeal comes at a time when the EU Court of Justice, which has jurisdiction over Hungary, has expressed its desire to replace the CAS as the final say-so when it comes to EU citizens or companies having disputes with sports governing organizations.

Prior to the suspension, Kenderesi made back-to-back Olympic final appearances in the 200 fly, earning bronze in 2016 and placing fourth in 2021. The butterfly specialist also earned four European Championships medals in the same event, earning silver at the 2018 Glasgow Games and bronze at London 2016, Copenhagen 2017 (short course), and Budapest 2020 (held in 2021).