John Febuar Ceniza has become the second Filipino weightlifter in two months to be handed a two-year suspension by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) for whereabouts failures, the International Testing Agency (ITA) announced.
According to the ITA, Ceniza committed three whereabouts failures within a 12-month period, a violation under Article 2.4 of the IWF Anti-Doping Rules (IWF ADR). These infractions involve an athlete’s failure to accurately declare their location for out-of-competition testing.
“The ITA reports that weightlifter John Febuar Ceniza has been sanctioned for his Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) under Article 2.4 of the IWF Anti-Doping Rules. He committed three whereabouts failures within a 12-month period,” the ITA stated on its website.
Ceniza’s two-year ineligibility period began on October 17, 2025, and will end on October 16, 2027. All results from competitions he participated in starting January 1, 2025, have also been disqualified.
A two-time Southeast Asian Games silver medalist, Ceniza follows Vanessa Sarno, who was similarly banned for two years — from August 4, 2025, to August 3, 2027 — for failing to properly file her whereabouts. Sarno, a two-time SEA Games gold medalist and Paris Olympian, was sanctioned in August for the same reason.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) requires all athletes in the registered testing pool to declare their whereabouts for a rolling three-month period. They must provide information such as their home address, regular activities, competition schedule, and a specific 60-minute window each day when they are available for testing.
Failure to comply with these whereabouts obligations — even without a positive drug test — constitutes a violation under WADA rules.
In the Philippines, athletes are expected to file this information through the Philippine National Anti-Doping Organization (PHINADO), which coordinates with international testing authorities. (Peter Atencio)
