The arbitration board decided yesterday that the ruling on Ayhan as well as her husband and coach, Yücel Kop, needs to be reconsidered by the disciplinary committee.

When the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) found two banned substances in the urine sample provided by Ayhan, she and Kop were banned for life by the federation, after already having received a ban of two years for refusing to provide a sample in another incident. Ayhan reportedly said during her defense to the arbitrary board that the first sanction (banning for two years) was imposed because she refused to give any samples while the second one was because of the substance found in the sample she provided. She noted that banning her for life had been an extreme decision. Meanwhile, Kop said to the Anatolia news agency that justice had been served. Saying that banning them for life would be a huge mistake, Kop added: “There has been a mistake. We thank those who decided [on the reevaluation of the decision] for their professional decision. They just revealed the truth.” Kop also asserted that Ayhan should get the minimum sanction.