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WADA revokes approval of Moscow Laboratory

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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.

Athletics Integrity Unit issues charges against Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare in relation to three disciplinary matters

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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.

New rules around glucocorticoid injections

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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.

WADA’s Africa Office hosts African Partnership Forum

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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.

Outcomes of the Executive Committee Meeting: Cannabis and Revised Code Compliance Policy

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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. 

LawInSport Weekly News Recap - 1 October

LIS News Roundup

Welcome to LawInSport’s weekly News Roundup.  This recap highlights this week’s news pieces from across the world of sport. For further updates, please visit our news section.

We hope you find this useful. If you have any related questions or feedback, please don’t hesitate to contact us. 

Joint statement from the IOC, World Athletics and Athletics Integrity Unit

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30 SEPTEMBER 2021, MONACO: Further to the incident involving Belarusian athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and the decision taken by the IOC to cancel and remove the accreditations of the two coaches, Messrs A. Shimak and Y. Maisevich, as a provisional measure during the Games, the IOC and World Athletics have jointly agreed to continue the investigation and to open a formal procedure vis-à-vis the two aforementioned coaches.

FIFA Anti-Doping Report 2020/2021 published

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FIFA has today published its Anti-Doping Report 2020/2021, which covers FIFA’s efforts in the area from 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the planning and implementation of FIFA’s anti-doping programme, with tournaments postponed and matches cancelled during the period covered by the report, a total of 354 players were subject to doping control tests in the following FIFA competitions:

WADA laboratories: the cornerstone of the global testing process

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In this latest edition of ‘Spotlight’, which keeps stakeholders up to date on the activities being carried out by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) team and its partners, we look at the process of accreditation/approval and monitoring of anti-doping laboratories around the world, which is helping to harmonize the analysis of samples and ensure that the highest standards are maintained. Previous ‘Spotlight’ features are available on WADA’s website.

What did we learn from UKAD’s 2021 Clean Sport at the Front Line?

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UK Anti-Doping’s (UKAD) Clean Sport at the Front Line (CSFL) took place on 14 & 15 September 2021 online. 

The event was tailored towards practitioners in sport and was free to attend. More than 100 delegates attended on each day of the virtual event.  

This year’s CSFL2021 looked at the importance of clean sport education for athlete support personnel and coaches. The forum presented recent research studies into coach and athlete support personnel anti-doping knowledge. UKAD introduced their new Insight and Innovation Team, who will be leading the development of research into prevalence studies, drug detection, monitoring & evaluation and data analytics.

The Anti-Doping Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport imposes an 18-month period of ineligibility on Andrejs Rastorgujevs (Latvia) following 3 whereabout failures in 12 months

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The Anti-Doping Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS ADD) has issued the following decision in relation to the Latvian biathlete Andrejs Rastorgujevs:

  • The Request for Arbitration filed by the International Biathlon Union on 3 May 2021 is partially upheld.

  • Andrejs Rastorgujevs is found to have committed an anti-doping rule violation pursuant to Article 2.4 of the IBU ADR (three Whereabouts Failures within a 12-month period).

  • Andrejs Rastorgujevs is sanctioned with a period of ineligibility of eighteen (18) months.

  • The period of ineligibility shall commence on 11 March 2021, which is the start date of

    the provisional suspension imposed on Andrejs Rastorgujevs.

  • All competitive results obtained by Andrejs Rastorgujevs from 1 July 2020 until the date

    on which the CAS ADD decision enters into force are disqualified, with all resulting consequences including forfeiture of medals, points and prizes.

WADA to review cannabis rules

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The World Anti-Doping Agency is set to review whether or not cannabis should remain a banned substance.

Following a meeting of WADA's executive committee in Istanbul yesterday WADA announced that it will review the cannabis rules to determine whether or not the substance should remain on the Prohibited List. The announcement comes a few months after American sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson missed the Tokyo Olympics after testing positive for the substance, saying it helped her deal with the death of her mother.

CAS confirms the two-year period of ineligibility imposed on Shayna Jack

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The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed the appeals filed by Sports Integrity Australia (SIA) (formerly, the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA)) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) against the first instance decision issued by the CAS Oceania Registry on 16 November 2020 (the Appealed Decision) in which the Australian swimmer, Shayna Jack, was found to have violated Article 2.1 of the Swimming Australia Ltd Anti- Doping Policy 2015 and was suspended for a period of two years, commencing on 12 July 2019.

WADA Leadership holds talks with Russia’s Sports Minister regarding RUSADA’s requirements for reinstatement

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The World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA’s) President, Witold Bańka, Director General, Olivier Niggli, and other members of WADA Leadership met with the Sports Minister of the Russian Federation, Oleg Matytsin, and other members of his delegation in Istanbul, Turkey. The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss the requirements that must be fulfilled by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) and the Russian authorities for RUSADA to be reinstated as compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code (Code), when the two-year period of consequences prescribed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in December 2020 expires.

WADA Athlete Committee discusses Anti-Doping Ombuds initiative and other key issues

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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.

U.S. Cycling Athlete Matt McWhirter Accepts Sanction for Anti-Doping Rule Violation

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USADA announced today that Matt McWhirter, of Scottsdale, Ariz., an athlete in the sport of cycling, has received a four-year suspension for an anti-doping rule violation.

McWhirter was subject to testing due to his membership in USA Cycling, which maintains the RaceClean Program that works to deter doping in the sport of cycling. The goal of the RaceClean Program is to create a level playing field from the grassroot to elite level of cycling.

Statement on the incident involving Belarusian athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya at Tokyo 2020

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Further to the incident involving Belarusian athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and the decision taken by the IOC to cancel and remove the accreditations of the two coaches, Messrs A. Shimak and Y. Maisevich, as a provisional measure during the Games, the IOC and World Athletics have jointly agreed to continue the investigation and to open a formal procedure vis-à-vis the two aforementioned coaches. 

The ITA supports pre-Games education for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022

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THE INTERNATIONAL TESTING AGENCY (ITA), LEADING AN INDEPENDENT ANTI-DOPING PROGRAM FOR THE OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES BEIJING 2022, HAS SUPPORTED THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW INTERACTIVE EDUCATION COURSE FOR ATHLETES AND COACHES AIMING TO ATTEND THE UPCOMING WINTER GAMES. THIS CLEAN SPORT COURSE WAS DEVELOPED BY THE WORLD ANTI-DOPING AGENCY (WADA) IN COLLABORATION WITH THE ITA AND THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE (IOC) AND IT LAUNCHES TODAY ON WADA’S EDUCATION PLATFORM ADEL. THE ITA IS ALSO RESPONSIBLE FOR A PRE-GAMES EDUCATION PROJECT DESIGNED TO ENABLE CODE SIGNATORIES TO EDUCATE THEIR DELEGATIONS BEFORE THEY HEAD TO BEIJING.

Belgium's Pharma- & Foodcrime Platform: Information Sharing and Capacity Building with Jurgen Secember, NADO Flanders

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In Episode 17 we chat to Jurgen Secember, Legal Advisor from NADO Flanders about collaboration and cooperation in the national landscape of anti-doping. Jurgen discusses the benefits, including information sharing and increased investigative capacity, that have been achieved by working formally and informally alongside other Belgian entities, public servants from the Judicial Police, the Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products, the Federal Agency for Food Chain Safety and the Customs.

LawInSport Weekly News Recap - 24 September

LIS News Roundup

Welcome to LawInSport’s weekly News Roundup.  This recap highlights this week’s news pieces from across the world of sport. For further updates, please visit our news section.

We hope you find this useful. If you have any related questions or feedback, please don’t hesitate to contact us. 

CAS confirms the four-year ban imposed on Dr. Jeffrey Brown and Alberto Salazar for anti-doping rule violations

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Lausanne, 16 September 2021 - The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has ruled that the physician and endocrinologist, Dr. Jeffrey Brown, and the former elite-level long distance runner and head coach of the Nike Oregon Project (NOP), Alberto Salazar (the Appellants), committed a number of anti- doping rule violations (ADRVs) and has confirmed the four-year bans imposed on them in the decisions issued on 7 September 2019 (Brown) and 30 October 2019 (Salazar) by the American Arbitration Association, North American Court of Arbitration for Sport Panels (the Challenged Decisions). As a consequence, the relief requested by Dr. Brown/Mr. Salazar, on one hand, and by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), on the other hand, in their respective appeals has been rejected.

Statement on Shayna Jack decision

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Sport Integrity Australia acknowledges the decision made by the Court of Arbitration for Sport to maintain the 2 year sanction imposed on Shayna Jack following an appeal process.

WADA contributes to OECD’s Compendium of International Organizations’ Practices

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The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) welcomes the publication by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) of its ‘Compendium of International Organizations’ Practices’, which was launched at the eighth Annual Meeting of International Organization Partnership, held virtually this week. The Agency was pleased to assist the OECD in compiling this useful publication by providing presentations of key practices in the field of anti-doping.

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