Olympic and World Champion Tunisian swimmer Ahmed Hafnaoui has accepted a voluntary provisional suspension after an assertion of an anti-doping rules violation from the International Testing Agency (ITA).
Hafnaoui was suspended for missing at least three random doping tests in a 12-month period. The rule explained by the World Aquatics AQIU:
Athletes included in a Registered Testing Pool (“RTP”), such as Ahmed Ayoub Hafnaoui, have the obligations to provide daily whereabouts as well as a specific daily 60-minute time slot where they will be available for testing. The purpose is to allow Anti-Doping Organisations to locate athletes for unannounced Out-of-Competition Testing. Any combination of three (or more) Missed Tests (which relate to the Athletes’ unavailability with respect to their 60-minute time slot) and/or Filing Failures (which are caused by the Athletes’ failure to provide accurate Whereabouts) committed within a twelve-month period amount to a potential Anti-Doping Rule Violation (“ADRV”) as per Article 2.4 of the World Aquatics Doping Control Rules and World Anti-Doping Code. The potential consequences for such ADRV, if confirmed, is a period of Ineligibility between one and two years and disqualification of results obtained since the date of the ADRV, namely the date of the occurrence of third Whereabouts Failure (Article 10.3.2 World Aquatics Doping Control Rules).
Sources tell SwimSwam that Hafnaoui missed two anti-doping tests while training in America and then a third after returning home to Tunisia amidst visa issues in the United States. More recently, he has been at a training camp in France with Ahmed Jaouadi and Rami Rahmouni working with French coach Philippe Lucas.
The news comes in the same week where Hafnaoui entered the NCAA transfer portal telling SwimSwam that he was considering a transfer to return to American collegiate swimming.
The NCAA is not a World Anti-Doping Code signatory and has its own anti-doping control system that is often criticized by global authorities. NCAA programs would not necessarily be bound by any ITA or AQUA suspensions. Athletes who were suspended by international authorities have been allowed to train and compete with their college teams in the past, though the restriction on USA Swimming member coaches working with suspended athletes creates some administrative incongruity (most NCAA coaches are also USA Swimming members).
He is one of two swimmers currently listed as suspended for Whereabouts filings by the Aquatics Integrity Unit. The other, Turkish Olympian Viktoria Gunes, received a two-year suspension in 2023.
Hafnaoui swam part of last year at Indiana, after sitting out the 2022-2023 season due to eligibility issues, but he only competed in two meets in October for the Hoosiers before moving to California to train with The Swim Team (TST) and Mark Schubert. He ended up going back to Tunisia due to visa issues and competing in the World Championships in February of last year.
His 2024 World Championships was a disappointing performance. He didn’t final in any of his events, placing 17th in the 400 and 1500 and 18th in the 800.
Hafnaoui won the 400m freestyle from lane 8 at the 2021 Olympic Games, going 3:43.36. He has been dealing with an injury, and decided not to compete at the 2024 Olympic Games after a disappointing World Championships in Qatar.
He also swam the 400 free, 800 free, and 1500 free at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka in July of 2023 and was the World Champion in the 800 and the 1500 while training with Indiana.
He said that he decided not to compete at the 2024 Olympic Games after a disappointing World Championships in Qatar and while dealing with an injury.
Hafanoui was the 2023 African Male Swimmer of the Year award winner in the annual Swammy Awards.
His suspension will be reduced and I mark my words.
He was going through a tough period physically and mentally and that’s the reason behind the 3 no shows.
It’s funny seeing all these comments and people thrilled about his suspension, like he’s a cheater and that’s the only reason why his competitors lost.
He’ll be back stronger than ever, but then his only competitor will be his compatriot Jaouadi (and maybe another one, we’ll save the surprise for later 😉 )
Noooo! I wanted so much to believe in this kid! Now I’ll always have doubts…
Sounds like he just stopped give a shite. Anyway it is Tunisia’s problem.
Whether he’s now doping or not this guy had one of the best performances at a World Champs in recent memory
Just like Sun Yang in 2012.
I was assuming, perhaps incorrectly, that he was untainted in ’23. IF untainted then yes it was a fantastic performance.
Not a great look following on from Mellouli.
He crashed out real hard
Honestly think this is a similar situation to Ruta. Obviously he’s been struggling for a while, hope he can get the help he needs.
That was my first thought as well. No one wants to be suspended, but some time away from the sport may be what he needs.
Was too busy posting about free watermelons