FATHER & SON CHEATS BANNED FOR LIFE

The CMA Executive Committee has slapped a lifetime ban on a father and son who were disqualified by the Chief Race Referee following a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding their participation in the 2002 and 2003 Comrades Marathons.

According to a report submitted to CMA, Chief Race Referee John Aulsebrook came to the conclusion that the son Willem van de Vyver did not run either race, and that his father Andre van de Vyver assisted him in fraudulently obtaining recognition for the completion of both events.

Father and son are both members of the Esselen Park Athletic Club in Central Gauteng and their club, province and ASA have all been informed of the incident and subsequent disqualification. 

Shortly after the 2003 Comrades Marathon it came to the attention of the CMA that father and son had achieved identical splits throughout the race, as recorded by the ChampionChip monitoring mats positioned at various points along the course. Upon further investigation it was ascertained that the official photographers, Action Photo, had captured several photos of the father (Andre) running and completing the race, while there were no photos whatsoever of the younger van de Vyver (Willem). In addition, one the finish photographs clearly shows Andre wearing two ChampionChips.

Upon delving into the historical records of both runners it was further revealed that father and son had also recorded identical splits for the 1999 and 2002 Comrades Marathons, while they recorded differing splits and differing finishing times in 2000. With regard to the identical splits and finishing times in 1999 and 2002, photographic evidence again substantiated only the father, Andre participating in 2002, while no photographic evidence was available for 1999. It was on this basis that they were disqualified for 2002 and 2003.

Apart from doping offences there have been only two previous cheating incidents in the 83 year history of the race. In 1993 the Comrades Marathon was marred by a spectacular scandal in which an unknown runner Herman Matthee caught a taxi to join the race on Fields Hill, with approximately 20km to go, and finished well amongst the gold medals in 7th position. Following a lengthy investigation he was eventually disqualified and banned from the race for a period of 10 years. It was as a direct consequence of the Matthee incident that the ChampionChip monitoring system was later implemented at Comrades. 

More recently in 1999 the Motsoeneng brothers Sergio and Sefako conspired to run the race as a relay. The brothers successfully swopped clothing, shoes and ChampionChip at various positions along the way and Sergio ultimately finished the race to earn a gold medal in 9th position. They nearly got away with it, with the ChampionChip mats having recorded the progress of one runner throughout the race. However they had forgotten to swop watches, and when official race photographs revealed two different watches (one pink and one yellow) worn on different arms (left and right) at various stages of the race, Sergio was eventually disqualified and the two brothers were also banned from Comrades for 10 years. 

Acting on the Referees Report on the instance of Willem and Andre van der Vyver, the CMA Executive Committee decided on a lifetime ban, on the basis that theirs was a multiple offence.

 COMRADES MARATHON MEDIA RELEASE 4/2004

Statement Released: Monday, 2 February 2004

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