LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- A German national hockey player was banned for two years after refusing to take a doping test for several hours because he was relaxing at home with his girlfriend.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport banned Florian Busch on Tuesday because he declined to immediately give a sample when German anti-doping officials arrived unannounced in March 2008.
"Florian Busch refused to submit to doping control," the court said in a statement.
Despite testing negative, Busch can't suit up for Polar Bears Berlin again until February 2011.
Germany coach Uwe Krupp has said Busch was sharing "a private moment" with his girlfriend when the testing team arrived.
Busch, 24, was originally fined $7,000 and ordered to do 56 hours of community work. The decision was appealed by the World Anti-Doping Agency, whose rules equate refusing a test to flunking one.
"I am very, very surprised that a young national team player who still has everything in front of him is being punished so drastically," said Erich Kuehnhackl, the vice president of the German Ice Hockey Federation. "This is unbelievable."
The fight against doping has stepped up in recent years, leading to complaints from some athletes and sporting bodies that controls have become too intrusive.
