• The Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA) has confirmed that Tanja Šmid has been issued with a four-year ban by the Slovenian Anti-Doping Organisation following a positive test for GW 1516 at the Serbian National Open Swimming Championships on 28 February. It is understood that Šmid retired following the positive test. GW 1516 was developed to burn fat whilst exercising, but withdrawn from development after Glaxosmithkline found that it caused cancer in rodents. It features on section S4 of the 2016 Prohibited List, and is understood to be illegally manufactured today.

• German boxer Felix Sturm failed a drug test after defeating Fedor Chudinov on 20 February to take the World Boxing Association (WBA) super middleweight title. Sturm tested positive for the anabolic steroid Hydro-XY-Stanozolol, reported the WBA. He has requested analysis of his B sample.

• Kenya’s parliament is scheduled to approve its Anti-Doping Bill today, according to local reports. Amendments to be debated are reported to include raising a fine from KES3 million (€260,000) to KES5 million (€436,000) for anyone caught supplying athletes with banned substances. The Bill is understood to empower the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) to impose a KES100,000 (€872) fine and/or a year in jail on an athlete caught doping; plus sanctions for sports bodies that are found to have acted improperly. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has given Kenya until 2 May to bring itself into compliance with the World Anti-Doping Code.

• The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has lifted the provisional suspension imposed on Gabriela Petrova, after the Bulgarian tested positive for meldonium last month. “The IAAF lifted the provisional suspension of Petrova, but the disciplinary proceedings are stayed as per WADA’s recommendations”, said an IAAF spokesperson. Petrova took silver in the triple jump at last year’s European Indoor Championships in Prague. For a list of provisional suspensions due to meldonium, please click here.

• It has been alleged that doctor Eufemiano Fuentes set up an offshore company in order to manage money received from doping athletes. In data obtained through the ‘Panama Papers’, El Confidencial reports that Fuentes set up Codes Holding Limited in order to manage the money he received from his activities. Fuentes was a central figure in the ‘Operacion Puerto’ doping case.

• A provincial court in Vizcaya has upheld the ruling of a Bilbao criminal court by acquitting six people accused of being involved in doping at the Urdaibai rowing club (pictured), reports Marca. It is understood that although the court accepted that doping substances had arrived at the club, it could not prove that they had been administered to the rowers, or that the administration of the substances had endangered the life or health of the rowers. As reported by the Sports Integrity Initiative in November last year, many of the rowers complained of feeling unwell after being administered injections by the club.

• Two Malaysian weightlifters have tested positive, one for methandienone and the other for nandrolone, reports The Star. The Malaysian Weightlifting Federation (MWF) said it would not confirm the identity of the two athletes until after the B samples are analysed. However, the MWF told The Star that the two weightlifters would return from a training camp in China and would not compete in the Asian Weightlifting Championships in Uzbekistan. Eight lifters left for a training camp in China ahead of the Championships, and are named in the article.

• The Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CANOC) has announced that it has become a new member of the Sports Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA), which was launched last week by the International Centre for Sports Security (ICSS).