Teacher suspended a month after doping conviction

A State school teacher who is also a part-time swimming instructor at the Malta Football Association pool in Ta’ Qali has been suspended from work, one month after he received a four-year ban over a doping offence. News of the disciplinary action was only communicated a few days ago following questions from the Times of Malta. On March 7, multiple triathlon and duathlon champion Keith Galea, 30, was found guilty by the National Anti-Doping Organisation disciplinary panel of an offence following a test carried out on May 25 of last year. It transpired that the athlete tested positive to the prohibited substance Stanozodol, a synthetic steroid derived from testosterone. The four-year ban from all activities related to sport was announced by the Malta Triathlon Federation and will remain in force until July 13, 2021. Apart from being a swimming coach, Mr Galea is a physical education teacher at the San Ġorġ Preca College in Blata l-Bajda. At the time of the offence, he was also part of the government-sponsored 20/20 scheme, a flexi-training programme whereby some of the hours of work are subsidised by the government in order for selected athletes to be able to dedicate more time to...