The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has lifted a provisional suspension imposed on one athlete after an adverse analytical finding (AAF) for meldonium, but has notified another athlete that he has returned an AAF for meldonium. Islam Makhachev returned an AAF for meldonium on 15 April, however the UFC confirmed that following clarification from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on the handling of meldonium AAFs, he is now free to return to competition. Daniel Omielanczuk has been notified that he has returned an AAF for meldonium, however the UFC said that he has not been provisionally suspended due to WADA’s guidance.

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) also confirmed that two of its athletes had committed an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) for meldonium, however found that ‘no fault or negligence’ applies in both cases. As Ukrainian powerlifter Mariana Shevchuk returned an AAF for meldonium on 16 February 2016 after she had competed in the 7th FAZZA 2016 IPC Powerlifting World Cup in Dubai, her results have been cancelled from that date. However, as Russian track and field athlete Vladimir Andriushchenko returned an AAF following an out-of-competition test on 5 March 2016, his results have not been cancelled.

Meanwhile, the agent representing Russian boxer Alexander Povetkin has apparently received clarification from WADA that the levels of meldonium detected in his AAF are so low that they do not constitute an ADRV. “WADA sent us today a clarification note saying athletes that tested positive with less than one microgram of meldonium in samples taken before 1 October 2016 will not be disqualified”, Andrey Ryabinsky told R-Sport. “Therefore, WADA admits that Alexander Povetkin is clean”.