The Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) has upheld a backdated ban placed on Montenegro water polo player Aleksa Ukropina after he committed an anti-doping rule violation.
In February 2024, Ukropina tested positive for fenoterol, a banned substance, following a match against Spain at the World Championships in Doha, Qatar.
According to an article on total-waterpolo.com, Ukropina failed his test due to an inhaler medication he used. The article said he wasn’t aware that a doping violation would occur, which is why he didn’t seek a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) that would have allowed him to use the inhaler for medical reasons.
The positive test resulted in Ukropina missing the 2024 Paris Olympics. Montenegro went 1-2 in pool play during the Games and failed to qualify for the knockout round, ultimately finishing ninth.
The CAS dismissed an appeal brought forth by Ukropina, upholding a two-year ban that will be served until Feb. 14, 2026. In addition, “competitive results” obtained by Montenegro while Ukropina was on the team from Jan. through Feb. 14, 2024 have been disqualified.
Ukropina, who will turn 27 on Sept. 28, has played professionally since starting with Montenegro-based PVK Jadaran in 2013.
He played for that organization until 2018 before moving on to play in Hungary for Orvosegyetem SC. Since 2020, Ukropina has played for Serbian-based VK Radnicki Kragujevac.
Ukropina has also been a part of Montenegro’s national team, helping lead that country to fifth-place finishes at both the 2015 World Aquatics Championships in Russia and the 2017 event in Hungary.
At this past summer’s world championships in Singapore, Montenegro finished in sixth place playing without Ukropina, losing the fifth-place match to Croatia.
