• The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has been accused of throwing a ‘childish tantrum’ after losing a doping case. “A responsible regulator would pause for reflection, and then consult racing’s stakeholders”, Roderick Moore, the Barrister who represented Philip Hobbs at an appeal hearing, told the Racing Post. “This pre-prepared statement from Jamie Stier appears to be a toxic combination of face-saving spin and childish tantrum”. In a statement, the National Trainers Federation said that it would ‘strongly discourage’ the BHA from changing its rules. ‘The Appeal Board disagreed with the BHA that the current rule logically requires a Responsible Person to establish the probable source of the prohibited substance in order to show that it was not administered intentionally and all reasonable precautions had been taken’, read a BHA statement. ‘It was and is the BHA’s view that the Responsible Person is by definition responsible for ensuring that no prohibited substances are found in the horse’s system at any relevant time’.

• A Bolzano court in Italy has sentenced Michele Ferrari to 18 months in prison, reports AS. In April, the Tribunal of Bolzano ruled that Ferrari was guilty of providing doping assistance to biathlete Daniel Taschler, after his father recommended the physician and trainer. Ferrari worked with numerous professional cyclists, including Lance Armstrong. Ferrari was sanctioned with a lifetime ban by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in 2012 along with other US Postal team staff, following USADA’s investigation into Armstrong.

• The International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation (IBSF) has provisionally suspended four Russian skeleton athletes after they were sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The IBSF also announced that it had received the decisions from the IOC, advising that all athletes had the right to a provisional hearing regarding their provisional suspension. The IOC has yet to publish its reasoned decisions in each of the four cases.