DORTMUND - The German billiard player Ronny Lindemann has been caught using cannabis and is suspended for three months by the world federation. The check was done during the last World Championship three-cushion for national teams in Viersen, Germany, in March 2022. Months later, 42-year-old Lindemann received the message that he tested positive for cannabis, an illegal substance in the sport. Lindemann and his team player Martin Horn were removed from the result of the World championship: Germany finished third in the world. The billiard player will miss important tournaments due to the three-month suspension: he will not be allowed to participate in this year's World championship for national teams, will miss the World Cups in Ankara and Las Vegas and the European individual and national team championships in Antalya. In addition, he will not be able to play for his teams in the upcoming matches.
''I am really sorry for everyone I have duped, especially Martin Horn, because third place at the World championship has been taken away from us'', Lindemann said when the final suspension was announced last week. The German was number 50 in the world rankings. Lindemann was German champion once, in 2016.
The billiard player, who plays competition in Germany, the Netherlands and France, regrets the mistake he made. ''I never thought I would get caught. The weekend before the World championship, I had a joint when I went out with friends. That was stupid, of course. I relapsed into a stupidity that I committed earlier in my youth. It was partly due to a problem in my private life and I sometimes took a joint to sleep."
The consequences are harsh for the sportsman Lindemann is. ''I don't only miss important tournaments. I also was at the German federation, because as top athletes we are financially supported by the Olympic committee. That is now stopped for the time being, because they have expelled me from the national team. I also had the police in my house, because they wanted to search for drugs, very bad to experience."
Lindemann was only notified of the positive cannabis test six months after the World championship where he was tested. It then took three months before his sentence was announced. ''They don't consider cannabis doping, so I wasn't suspended for a year or two. It is a drug that is not allowed, so they punished me for 3 months."
The German once again emphasizes that he is sorry to his teams (A1 Biljarts even stopped last week due to a shortage of players). His replacement in the German team for the World championship in Viersen is Cengiz Karaka, who will play for Germany with Martin Horn.