Ottawa – April 18, 2023 – The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) announced today that Alex “Marcus” Vargas, a cheer athlete and athlete support person, received a lifetime ban for multiple anti-doping rule violations. The athlete acknowledged his own use of cocaine, as well as the administration and trafficking of cocaine to a protected person, in his role as an athlete support person, during the Alberta Cold Snap Classic on January 23, 2022.
The CCES initiated a review of the athlete’s actions following receipt of a disciplinary decision from the Alberta Cheer Association (ACA) dated July 20, 2022. The athlete failed to dispute the anti-doping rule violations within the timelines specified in the Canadian Anti-Doping Program (CADP), so the violations and the sanction were confirmed by way of a deemed waiver. The lifetime ban started on March 13, 2023.
Administration and trafficking violations that involve protected persons (a term defined in the CADP) and substances classified as non-specified substances if committed by an athlete support person are considered particularly serious violations and shall result in a lifetime period of ineligibility for athlete support personnel pursuant to the CADP.
In compliance with rule 8.4 of the CADP, the CCES’s file outcome summary can be found in the Canadian Sport Sanction Registry.
About the CCES
The CCES works collaboratively to ensure Canadians have a positive sport experience. Through its programs, the CCES manages unethical issues in sport, protects the integrity of Canadian sport, and promotes True Sport to activate values-based sport on and off the field of play. The CCES is an independent, national, not-for profit organization that is responsible for the administration of the CADP. Under the CADP rules, the CCES makes public every anti-doping rule violation. For more information, visit cces.ca, follow us on X, Facebook, or Instagram.