After doping test scandal: Magdeburg's Portner banned

Handball goalkeeper Nikola Portner from Champions League winners SC Magdeburg will be suspended until December 10 following the positive doping test in March 2024. This is the result of a dispute resolution agreement in which the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the German National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA), the German Handball Bundesliga and Nikola Portner agreed on a retroactive 21-month ban, according to a statement.

The parties therefore agree that there is no evidence that the anti-doping rule violation was committed intentionally. According to the information provided, the Swiss international will be allowed to resume training in around eight weeks.

"We see this as confirmation of Nikola's statement and also our assessment that there was no deliberate doping to enhance the performance of an SC Magdeburg player," said SCM Managing Director Marc-Henrik Schmedt. "The settlement of the dispute allows Nikola to draw a line under the matter and resume his handball career soon."

Portner had always denied knowingly taking the drug

The settlement of the dispute replaces the decision of the Handball Bundesliga from July 16 of last year, the statement continued. NADA also announced that the ongoing proceedings before the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the Cologne Higher Regional Court would be concluded.

Portner had tested positive for methamphetamines, also known as crystal meth, in April 2024. After weeks of proceedings, the HBL nevertheless decided in favor of an acquittal, among other things because "the amount of the banned substance detected in the athlete's body was so small that active use and a performance-enhancing effect can be ruled out and that neither intentional nor culpable use can be assumed," the league association said. NADA then lodged an appeal against this decision with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne.

Portner himself had always denied knowingly taking the drug. The league assumed that the contamination was not his fault. The now 31-year-old world-class goalkeeper had played his first competitive match since April 2024 after the HBL's acquittal in the Supercup almost a year ago and then played the entire season in goal for SCM.