Is the former Polish representative coming back to the game? Refund regarding the doping blunder

Interestingly, the Polish Anti-Doping Agency lifted the temporary suspension imposed on the player. You can read the full text of Monday’s statement below.

The player’s case is currently being examined by the Disciplinary Panel of the First Instance. The player was suspended from May 30, 2025.

Mikołaj Sawicki was suspended. Is this the end of the volleyball player’s nightmare?

What will be the next installments of this story? The above-mentioned POLADA statement also included questions and answers regarding the situation related to both the volleyball player and tennis player Jakub Januchowski. However, Sawicki’s figure is much better known in the sports community – we are talking about the Polish champion with Bogdanka LUK Lublin and a former representative of the country. Hence, the main focus is on the player from PlusLiga.

This part of the statement is key:

We would like to inform you that on February 27 this year, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in the evening, she submitted official letters to the Polish Anti-Doping Agency regarding the analytical results of urine samples of two players, which were tested by the Polish Anti-Doping Laboratory (PLAD). The case concerns samples for which PLAD issued a positive result (adverse analytical finidng unfavorable result) for the presence of a substance belonging to the S6 group. Stimulants from the WADA Prohibited List of Substances and Methods called “modafinil metabolite modafinil acid”. According to the information received from WADA, the confirmatory analytical method used by PLAD did not provide sufficient evidence for the presence of modafinil acid in the samples and the case was classified as an analytically unfavorable result, i.e. AAF. At the same time, WADA does not decide in its correspondence whether the samples actually contain or do not contain the prohibited substance originally reported by PLAD as AAF. Taking into account the principle of justice and the well-being of the athletes, POLADA, following WADA’s recommendation, immediately initiated actions aimed at suspending both athletes.

It therefore appears that there was a laboratory error on the part of the Polish Anti-Doping Laboratory (PLAD). For this reason, POLADA took steps to suspend both players (i.e. Sawicki and Januchowski).

Importantly, however, POLADA, in the above-mentioned questions and answers attached to the statement, emphasizes that at this stage of the proceedings there can be no talk of acquittal. It is necessary to re-analyze the samples in another WADA-accredited laboratory. This requires the consent of the players or a decision of the bodies examining the cases.

In Sawicki’s case, the current repeal means that the athlete can train and take part in sports competition.