Alex Schwazer is once again at the center of a new anti-doping scandal. NADA Germany has launched an investigation into the South Tyrolean race walker following an alleged positive test for erythropoietin (EPO) discovered after a race in Germany in April. The athlete has been temporarily suspended. Schwazer vehemently refuted the charges during a press conference held in response to the allegations. "I am innocent; I have not taken EPO or other banned substances", he said, adding that he no longer has the energy to fight a fresh, long-running legal and sports battle. "I am 41 years old, have a family, and a life outside of competitive sports. I am unwilling to risk my personal stability". The athlete has stated that he will only request the counter-analysis on the condition that a third urine sample, which is held by his longtime coach and supporter of his innocence, be examined as well. This request was also made by lawyer Gerhard Brandstatter, who claimed that studying the additional sample would help demonstrate the reality of the events. "I no longer trust the system", said a visibly upset Schwazer, explaining how he now feels alienated from a sporting world in which he feels he no longer belongs. In a statement read during the press conference, Donati expressed "surprise, disbelief, and disappointment" at the new positive result, hoping that the third sample collected after the Frankfurt race would also be tested. The case thus reopens one of the most contentious instances in Italian athletics in recent years, while the athlete awaits the outcome of the counter-analysis and procedures undertaken by the anti-doping authorities.