Rafa Muñoz, the world 50m 'fly record holder, faces a suspension of up to two years under anti-doping rules that stipulate that all competitors must register their whereabouts with the international federation, FINA, and the international anti-doping agency, WADA.

The 22-year-old Spaniard, world titles bronze medallist in the 50 and 100m 'fly in Rome and world-record setter over 50m in a Jaked01 suit among those banned since January 1 this year, took a break in the wake of the big meet last summer. 

At the time he was considering quitting the sport - but he filed no retirement papers and as such, under anti-doping rules, he was obliged to register the details of his daily location, training or not. Muñoz decided against retirement, returned to full-time training in January and has since competed at several meets. There is no suggestion that Munoz deliberately avoided tests. 

El País in Spain broke the story under the headline "The fatal slip-up of Rafa Muñoz". FINA is now considering the case and is likely to impose a suspension of between 2 months and 2 years in accordance with the WADA Code.

Reporter Diego Torres goes into the details of how Muñoz told friends in private that his swimming career was over and that he intended to travel around Spain with his mates for a while. 

Cornel Marculescu, FINA executive director, told the paper:  "We have opened an enquiry but that does not imply that he has failed a doping test. It means that he has not followed procedure [under the rules] We have to assemble the doping committee to resolve the case, listen to the swimmer and see what he has to say in his defense."

If the enquiry goes well, Muñoz is likely to serve a two-month suspension. The questions will then be: from when until when and how will that affect his summer programme, if at all?

Conscious of the fact that the 'fly swimmer is likely to be guilty of no more than having made a big but genuine mistake, Rodrigo Gil, spokesman for the Spanish Federation, told the media: "It is necessary to defend until the end the presumption of innocence of the swimmer. The Federation is going to support him in everything way possible until the conclusion of the case". Muñoz declined to comment when asked by several Spanish media outlets.