Iannone: Doping ban has "ripped my heart apart"
Andrea Iannone says the four-year doping ban handed to him on Tuesday has "ripped my heart apart from my greatest love", as it leaves his MotoGP career in tatters.
On Tuesday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled Iannone had not presented enough substantial evidence to prove he ingested a banned steroid accidentally through contaminated meat during last year's Malaysian Grand Prix.
Losing his appeal to have his 18-month ban overturned, CAS ruled in the World Anti-Doping Agency's favour to have his suspension extended to the full four years.
Iannone called the ruling the "worst injustice" he has ever faced and slammed it for having "no logical sense".
In a post on Instagram, Iannone wrote: "Today I've received the worst injustice I could ever have imagined.
"They ripped my heart apart from my greatest love. No logical sense [is] on these allegations accompanied by incorrect facts.
"For this there will be an appropriate place and time, because I certainly do not give up.
"I knew I was facing strong powers, but I was hoping for intellectual honestly and affirmation of justice.
"Right now I am suffering at the highest level I could imagine. Whoever has tried to destroy my life will soon understand how much strength I have in my heart.
"The power of innocence and, above all, a clear conscience. A sentence can modify the events, but not the man."
Aprilia has since issued its own statement, accepting the judgement but refusing to agree with it, and has expressed no regrets in sticking by Iannone throughout proceedings.
"Judgements must be observed and accepted, even if many elements of this decision arouse perplexities, even from a purely scientific point of view," Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivola said.
"We do not regret having stood by Andrea and, to the contrary, we continue to stand by him at this time.
"This matter, with its extremely long times, has heavily damaged Aprilia Racing and our strategies for this and upcoming seasons.
"However, we must now look to the future, and it is our duty to quickly find a high-level solution that embraces the project we began with Andrea and that allows us to continue our growth, which is there and is clearly evident."
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