Italian MotoGP rider Andrea Iannone has been banned for 18 months after testing positive for anabolic steroids, the international motorcycling federation (FIM) announced on Wednesday.
Iannone, 30, tested positive in a urine sample collected at an in-competition test at the Malaysian MotoGP in Sepang on November 3. An FIM disciplinary hearing imposed a ban from December 17, 2019 to June 16, 2021.
Iannone's team Aprilia said they would be appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) as the FIM had recognised the possibility of food contamination.
"On the one hand they recognise my innocence, because they speak of involuntary contamination, but we lost because I was sentenced," Iannone told Sky Sport Italia.
"But it could have been worse, now we will immediately resort to CAS to try to get back in the saddle as soon as possible."