Welcome to LawInSport’s weekly News Roundup. This roundup highlights this week’s top news pieces from across the world of sport.
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World Triathlon has imposed a period of ineligibility of three years on Russian triathlete Alexander Bryukhankov for the presence of EPO in his urine sample on an in-competition doping control on 19 June, 2021, at the Europe Triathlon Sprint & Relay Championships in Kitzbuhel, Austria, in which he finished in the 5th place in the Final B.
As part of a circulatory vote that ended yesterday, the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA’s) Executive Committee (ExCo) approved the 7 October recommendation from the Agency’s independent Compliance Review Committee (CRC) to add the following three National Anti-Doping Organizations (NADOs) to the compliance ‘watchlist’[1]:
In order to strengthen the worldwide complementary activities of the ITA and WADA and to discuss concrete joint actions in favour of clean sport, ITA Director General Benjamin Cohen welcomed WADA global and regional leaders to ITA's Lausanne headquarters last week. Next to a deeper exchange on specific projects, both organisations recognised the importance of creating increased awareness of each organisation’s respective roles and responsibilities by various stakeholders.
The President of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), Witold Bańka, was in Paris today to address the 8th Session of the Conference of Parties to the UNESCO International Convention against Doping in Sport (Convention) being held from 26-28 October 2021. The Convention, which is the legal framework under which Governments can address anti-doping issues, is the second most successful in the history of UNESCO, in terms of the pace of ratification, with only four countries of the world yet to Register.
Yesterday, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) President, Witold Bańka, delivered a speech to the 25th General Assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) held in Crete, Greece.
Speaking to the assembled delegates from the world’s 205 National Olympic Committees (NOCs), Mr. Bańka emphasized the importance of the role of NOCs in anti-doping.
British para-cyclist Erin McBride has been banned from all sport for a period of three years following Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) for the presence and Use of a Prohibited Substance.
USADA announced today that an independent arbitrator from the American Arbitration Association (AAA) has concluded the case of Paralympic track and field athlete Desmond Jackson, of Durham, N.C., and determined that Jackson should receive a 20-month sanction for his anti-doping rule violation, which USADA then reduced to 14 months based on Jackson’s substantial assistance. The decision comes after the facts of the case were presented and fully argued at an evidentiary hearing on September 23, 2021.
The leadership of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has highlighted the need to build further capacity to strengthen anti-doping in Central and West Asia, but also in all parts of the world, in addition to encouraging further engagement and empowerment of athletes in the fight against doping, at a virtual forum attended today by Ministers for Sport and other Government representatives from across Central and West Asia.
The World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA’s) independent Intelligence and Investigations (I&I) Department has published its summary report following an investigation into allegations that in 2011, United Kingdom Anti-Doping (UKAD) allowed British Cycling to analyze samples from athletes in private, using a non-WADA accredited laboratory, for the purposes of screening for a prohibited substance.
Sport Integrity Australia today acknowledged the decision of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to sanction athlete
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is pleased to launch a call for proposals for its 2022 Social Science Research Grant Program (Grant Program); regarding which, we kindly ask Expressions of Interest (to be submitted via the Agency’s WADAGrants platform, by:
Want to know more about the Athlete Biological Passport?
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) publishes today the following revised Technical Documents (TDs) for 2022 and Summaries of Modifications, which were approved by WADA’s Executive Committee, via circulatory vote, on 6 October 2021.
Sport Integrity Australia first opened its doors on 1 July 2020 at a time when the sporting landscape in Australia was unlike anything we’ve ever seen: COVID-19 was impacting sporting competitions and, indeed, their very survival was in doubt. This, coupled with growing global unrest around the treatment of athletes, presented challenges beyond comprehension. Here we look at how Sport Integrity Australia responded, and some key milestones for our first 12 months.
Paul Kehinde is ineligible for competition for thirty (30) months from 9 March 2020 to 8 September 2022
The President of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), Witold Bańka, appeared before the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) today to outline some of the challenges currently being faced by the Agency, as well as some of its recent achievements and those of the broader anti-doping community in Europe and around the world.
Continuing a 20-year legacy of advancing scientific innovation, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) hosted the 20th Annual USADA Symposium on Anti-Doping Science on October 1–4 in Scottsdale, Arizona. Following last year’s fully virtual format, the 2021 Symposium offered a hybrid approach with 151 registered attendees from more than 35 countries attending both in person and virtually to advance doping detection and deterrence efforts across the world.
Yesterday, by way of circulatory vote, the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA’s) Executive Committee (ExCo) endorsed a WADA Disciplinary Committee recommendation to revoke the ‘approved’ status of the National Anti-Doping Laboratory (MSU) in Moscow (Moscow Laboratory) to carry out blood sample analysis exclusively for the purpose of the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP), due to non-compliances with the International Standard for Laboratories (ISL) and its Code of Ethics.
07 OCTOBER 2021, MONACO: The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has issued charges against Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare in relation to three separate disciplinary matters.
The athlete has been charged with the presence and use of a prohibited substance following the detection of Human Growth Hormone in a sample collected out-of-competition on 19th July in Slovakia and reported to the AIU on 30th July. This matter was publicly announced on 31st July when Ms Okagbare was provisionally suspended. She had been scheduled to participate in the semi-finals of the Toko 2020 women’s 100m that day.
From 1 January 2022, all glucocorticoid injections will be prohibited in-competition. This is a new ruling making their classification consistent with oral glucocorticoid preparations.
This week, the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA’s) Africa Office, in cooperation with the Agency’s NADO/RADO Relations Department, hosted a virtual African Partnership Forum to enhance National Anti-Doping Organizations’ (NADOs’) partnerships and cooperation in the region. The Forum gathered representatives from developing and established NADOs (both from the African region and beyond), as well as other partner organizations that are key to the ongoing development and implementation of anti-doping programs in Africa.
Preliminary discussion on the review of Cannabis:
“…the ExCo endorsed the decision of the List Expert Advisory Group to initiate in 2022 a scientific review of the status of cannabis. Cannabis is currently prohibited in competition and will continue to be in 2022.” iNADO welcomes this review. iNADO maintains that the placing of cannabis on the prohibited list should be reviewed not just from a scientific perspective but should include social, policy and proportionality arguments.
The ITA had filed an application to be granted observer status earlier this year, and it was unanimously confirmed by the parties to the Anti-Doping Convention in July 2021. The Monitoring Group of the Convention surveys its application, examines any necessary modifications, holds consultations with any necessary stakeholders, recommends the appropriate measures to keep relevant organisations and the public informed about the activities undertaken within its framework and makes any proposal to improve its effectiveness. The Group also approves the list of pharmacological classes of doping agents and doping methods and the criteria for the accreditation of laboratories.
Blood is the vital fluid delivering essential substances like oxygen and nutrients to our body’s cells. Made up of plasma, red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets, it’s constantly circulating through our body as the moving force we need in order to exist.
Blood testing is also a vital part of the anti-doping repertoire.
The International Testing Agency (ITA) has been granted observer status with the monitoring group of the Anti-Doping Convention of the Council of Europe. The convention lays down binding rules on the 47 member states of the Council of Europe and 5 other states (Australia, Belarus, Canada, Morocco, and Tunisia) with a view to harmonise anti-doping regulations and to promote the important role of sport in moral and physical education as well as in international understanding.
The World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA’s) independent Intelligence and Investigations (I&I) Department has published its summary report following an investigation into allegations that the National Anti-Doping Organization of Ukraine (NADC) engaged in practices that contravened the International Standard for Testing and Investigations (ISTI).
Dr Valérie Fourneyron, the chair of the ITA Foundation Board, was honoured to address National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and representatives of the international sports movement at the 25th ANOC General Assembly. the focus was on the successful cooperation in the implementation of the independent anti-doping programme at the Olympic Games in Tokyo that the ITA had managed, the upcoming winter games in Beijing and increased cooperation regarding major continental events.
The Institute of National Anti-Doping Organisations (iNADO) has reviewed the second interim report of the Working Group (WG) on the review of WADA Governance Reforms and taken the opportunity to provide feedback in line with the considerations of adequate representation for those bound by the Code, independence in the decision-making process, transparency, and efficiency.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has developed a Guidance Document on Glucocorticoids (GCs) and Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs) in order to assist anti-doping stakeholders in their understanding of new rules regarding injectable routes of administration of GCs coming into force under the 2022 List of Prohibited Substances and Methods (List).
British para-cyclist Erin McBride has been banned from all sport for a period of three years following Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) for the presence and Use of a Prohibited Substance.
USADA announced today that Jamaal Daniels, of Raleigh, NC, a coach in the sport of track and field, has accepted a four-year suspension for administering a prohibited substance to Paralympic track and field athlete Desmond Jackson, and subsequently making false statements to USADA during its investigation.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has recently released the 2022 List of Prohibited Substances and Methods, which are banned from use within sport. Broken down into several categories, the List identifies which substances and methods are prohibited at all times, in-competition only, and within specific sports.
Following the publication of the report, a UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) spokesperson said: “We welcome the findings of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) report today into alleged events in 2011. The report makes no recommendations for UKAD to follow, and notes that all samples related to their investigation were negative. The report also notes that the employees involved in the 2011 events are no longer employed by UKAD, and praises UKAD’s “diligent cooperation and transparency” with WADA’s investigation team.
As athletes look for ways to fuel their performance, there is growing interest in Protein Fortified Foods (PFFs) like protein bars, balls and smoothies, in sports nutrition.
Today, the leadership of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) called on each African nation to strengthen and build the capacity of its own anti-doping program, at an important virtual forum attended by 10 Ministers for Sport from across the continent, plus the Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development in the African Union.
The International Testing Agency (ITA) managed the anti-doping activities for the 2021 edition of the Tour de France for the first time after the delegation of the entire cycling clean sport program by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) in the beginning of the year. The comprehensive and targeted clean sport program was implemented in close collaboration with the Agence Française de Lutte Contre le Dopage (AFLD) and the French authorities. To date, no anti-doping rule violations (ADRVs) were asserted in connection with the event.
The Governing Board of The Institute of National Anti-Doping Organisations e.V. (iNADO) held a virtual quarterly meeting on October, 12. Following the stepping down of former Chair Michael Ask, the Board met to elect a new Chair from the Governing Board Members in accordance with § 9.2.1 of the iNADO Constitution and 14.1 to 14.3 of the Rules of Procedure.
A new MoU between two leading UK sports bodies aims to help keep sport clean. Education pathways and professional standards will foster understanding of the latest anti-doping topics and rules
Sport Integrity Australia acknowledges the decision of the Football Australia Anti-Doping Tribunal to sanction athlete
On 6 and 7 October, the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA’s) Athlete Committee held its second meeting of 2021 via video call. The meeting was presided by Committee Chair, Ben Sandford.
The Athlete Committee began the two-day meeting by welcoming Mr. Humphrey Kayange of Kenya and Ms. Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen of Norway – two new members of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC’s) Athlete Commission – as new Committee members (see biographical notes below). They replace outgoing members Ms. Danka Bartekova of Slovakia and Ms. Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe.
The World Anti-Doping Agency confirms that, effective immediately, a total of five Anti-Doping Organizations (ADOs) have been declared non-compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code (Code).
The World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA’s) independent Intelligence and Investigations (I&I) Department has published its summary report following a review of the investigation carried out by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in relation to the Nike Oregon Project (NOP).
INADO is presenting the results of a two-month project about social and scientific research on anti-doping in the last 20 years, funded by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and Partnership Competition Partnership (PCC), up to $83 million and $29 million each
