Month: May 2016

Sports Integrity Briefs – 3 May 2016

Posted on by Andy Brown

DOPING

• FIFA has released a statement announcing that Liverpool footballer Mamadou Sakho’s 30-day provisional suspension has been extended to have ‘worldwide effect’. UEFA provisionally suspended Sakho after he returned an adverse analytical finding (AAF) for 30 days. It has been widely reported that the violation was caused by a fat-burning substance.

• Italian rower Niccolò Mornati has tested positive for the prohibited substance of anastrozole, a hormone and metabolic modulator. In a statement released by the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI), it said that Mornati had been suspended as a ‘precautionary measure’ following an out of competition test on 6 April 2016.

• The Officer of the Commissioner of Baseball has suspended two players for 80 games after they tested positive for prohibited substances. Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Josh Ravin received an 80-game suspension without pay after testing positive for Growth Hormone Releasing Peptide 2 (GHRP-2). Meanwhile Los Angeles Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon received an 80-game ban after testing positive for exogenous testosterone and clostebol. In a statement Gordon said that he took the substances unknowingly, but that he had ‘made a mistake’ and therefore accepted the consequences.

• The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has announced that Belarusian tennis player Sergey Betov will not be suspended from the sport, despite committing an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV). Betov tested positive for meldonium on 21 January 2016 but the ITF accepted that it was ‘more likely than not’ that the substance found in his sample came from taking meldonium no later than October 2015. Following WADA’s guidance notice on meldonium concentrations, the ITF further reasoned that Betov did not know, nor could have suspected, that meldonium would still have been in his system the date that he was tested. Betov was therefore deemed to have born no fault or negligence.

• A Namibian U20 international rugby player has reportedly failed a doping test following an out of competition test on 5 April 2016. According to news site All Africa, the Namibia Rugby Union (NRU) has decided not to disclose the name of the player. The South China Morning Post has reported that World Rugby has stated that the player’s sample returned ‘an adverse analytical finding for dehydrochlormethyltestosterone and methandienone’, anabolic steroids banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

MATCH-FIXING

• The Secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has reportedly submitted a Private Members’ Bill in India’s parliament recommending a 10 year jail term for sportspeople convicted of match-fixing. According to local news outlets, Anurag Thakur, who is also an Indian MP, said that the move was ‘fair to bring in accountability to be fair to sports lovers’, highlighting that there was no current Indian law for match-fixing. The proposed ‘National Sports Ethics Commission’ bill will also set up a national sports ethics body.

• Local news outlets in South Africa are reporting that Cricket South Africa, the sport’s national governing body, is ‘on the brink’ of charging at least five cricketers for match-fixing. The news follows the admission by former South African international cricket Gulam Bodi that he had fixed matches in the 2015 RAM SLAM T20 Challenge Series, the premier T20 tournament in the country. Bodi was banned for 20 years. The five players facing charges are understood to have ‘had contact with Gulam Bodi’.

GOVERNANCE

• The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) is under scrutiny following the revelation that a number of recent independent Disciplinary Panels, called to hear disciplinary cases in British horseracing, featured solicitor Matthew Lohn. Lohn is a senior partner at the law firm Fieldfisher, which, according to The Guardian, has recently given professional advice to the BHA on non-disciplinary matters. In April trainer Jim Best had an application for stay of penalty approved after the Appeals Panel found Lohn’s position to be a cause of ‘very great concern’. Another trainer, Paul Gilligan, who was penalised for running a horse in an unrecognised race, has reportedly decided to appeal his ban on the same grounds as Best.

• A National Rugby League (NRL) Integrity Unit investigation has ‘made preliminary findings’ that ‘since at least 2013’, the Parramatta Rugby League Club, the Parramatta Eels has exceeded the salary cap and thereby given its team an unfair advantage. The investigation determined that the club had devised a ‘deliberate, co-ordinated and sustained’ operation in evading the salary cap. As a result the club has received ‘one of the most severe punishments ever handed out in Australian rugby league’, which includes being deducted 12 points and fined AUD$1.25 million (€816,000).

• The adjudicatory chamber of FIFA’s independent Ethics Committee has banned Lionel Haven from all football-related activities. Haven is a former Executive Committee member of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) and was banned for failing to disclose information related to ‘cash payments at an event held by the CFU in May 2011’. The decision was only made public because the Ethics Committee were unable to contact Haven ‘at his last known postal address’.

• Kuwait’s government has reportedly launched legal action ‘against FIFA and other international federations’ for banning it from international sports tournaments. According to the investigative site Inside World Football, a report ‘prepared by the Kuwaiti Minister of Information and Youth Affairs, Sheikh Salman Al-Hamoud’ has been published in Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Qabas. The report allegedly states that Kuwait’s government had filed ‘seven cases’ against the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and FIFA at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). FIFA suspended the Kuwait Football Association (KFA) last year after a new sports law was implemented which was considered to impede the KFA’s ability to carry out its ‘activities and obligations independently’.

• The Brazilian parliamentary inquiry into corruption in football has reportedly ‘requested interviews’ with former Brazilian FA (CBF) President José Maria Marin and Brazilian businessman José Hawilla. Both men are unable to leave the USA due to the ongoing US Department of Justice investigation into corruption in global football. The inquiry has reportedly approved for ‘a number of representatives’ to travel to the US in order to conduct the interviews.

• Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SCDL) has launched an investigation after a 48-year old Indian worker on a stadium construction site died following a heart attack. ‘Al Khor Hospital reported the cause of death as cardiac arrest’, read a statement. ‘All relevant authorities were notified and a full investigation is underway’. A Workers Welfare Progress Report, covering April to December 2015, confirms that two other Indian workers have recently died due to heart issues. In October 2015 a 52-year old painter at the Khalifa International Stadium site died after suffering a heart attack and in January 2016, a 55-year old heavy goods driver died after suffering a heart attack. ‘Investigations into both incidents confirmed that work duties were not a contributory factor’, read the report.

• The international basketball federation (FIBA) is to meet on 14 May to discuss its next steps, after it threatened to expel any national federations with links to the Euroleague competition, ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympics. Of the 14 responses received, FIBA said that it would ask ‘a number of national federations for clarification’. A 21 March FIBA Europe statement read: ‘With the exception of the 16 Euroleague teams, any National Federation that supports ECA’s illegal tying practices by allowing their leagues or clubs to conclude and/or implement agreements with ECA, or any other entity directly or indirectly linked to it, will automatically lose the right to participate in Senior men national team competitions organised by FIBA Europe. The withdrawal of the right to participate in European International Competitions may extend also to other competitions.’


IOC releases Anti-Doping Rules for Rio 2016

Posted on by Media Release

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has released its Anti-Doping Rules for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. All athletes competing in Rio will be subject to testing as outlined in the Anti-Doping Rules, which have been drafted in accordance with the World Anti-Doping Code (Code) and the List of Prohibited Substances and Methods.

The Rules will cover the period from the opening of the Athletes’ Village on 24 July until twelve hours before a Competition in which the Athlete is scheduled to participate through the end of such Competition and the Sample collection process related to such Competition. These dates define what will be known as the ‘in-competition period’, which means that all substances and methods on the List are prohibited.

Furthermore, during this period all athletes will be subject to doping controls initiated by the IOC at any time or place, with no advance notice required to be given. Click here to consult the IOC Anti-Doping Rules for Rio 2016.

• This media release was originally published on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) internet site on 29 April 2016. To access the original, Click here.

U.S. Weightlifting Athlete, Lehr, Accepts Sanction

Posted on by Media Release

USADA announced today that Daniel Lehr, of Ripon, California, an athlete in the sport of weightlifting, has tested positive for a prohibited substance and accepted a four-year sanction for his violation. This sanction was subsequently reduced by three-months at the discretion of USADA and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and in accordance with the rules, based on Lehr’s prompt admission of the violation.

Lehr, 31, tested positive for the prohibited substances 1-androstenedione and its metabolite 5α-androst-1-ene-3α-ol-17-one, and ostarine and its metabolite o-desphenylostarine, as a result of an in-competition urine sample he provided on August 15, 2015, at the USA Weightlifting National Championships in Dallas, Texas. Ostarine and 1‐androstenedione, are substances in the class of anabolic agents, and are prohibited under the USADA Protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) National Anti-Doping Policies (USOC NADP) and the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Anti-Doping Rules, all of whom have adopted the World Anti-Doping Code and the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List.

Lehr’s period of ineligibility began on August 15, 2015, the day his sample was collected. In addition, Lehr has been disqualified from all competitive results obtained on and subsequent to August 15, 2015, the date his samples was collected, including forfeiture of any medals, points and prizes.

• This media release was originally published by USADA on 2 May 2016. To access the original, please click here.

Cycling Athlete, Lugo, Accepts Sanction for ADRV

Posted on by Media Release

USADA announced today that Yamile Lugo, a Colombian athlete in the sport of cycling, has tested positive for a prohibited substance and accepted a four-year sanction for an anti-doping rule violation. This sanction was subsequently reduced by two-years at the discretion of USADA and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) based on Lugo’s prompt admission of the violation.

Lugo, 46, tested positive for testosterone, which was confirmed by CIR (GC/C/IRMS) analysis, as a result of an in-competition urine sample she provided May 17, 2015, at the Gran Fondo New York. USADA was contracted by event organizers to conduct testing and results management for the event and collected Lugo’s sample in accordance with the WADA International Standard for Testing. Anabolic Agents are prohibited under the USADA Protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing which has adopted the World Anti-Doping Code and the WADA Prohibited List.

Upon notification of her positive test, Lugo promptly accepted responsibility for her violation and explained that prior to receiving notice from USADA, she was unaware the product that caused her positive test contained a prohibited substance. After a thorough review of the case, USADA accepted Lugo’s explanation; however, because a cursory examination of the product that caused Lugo’s positive test would have resulted in the discovery that it was prohibited in sport, and because she manifestly disregarded the risks associated with her use of that product, USADA determined that Lugo was ineligible for a reduction of the standard four-year period of ineligibility.

Nonetheless, based on her prompt admission of the anti-doping rule violation, both USADA and WADA recognized that a reduced sanction was appropriate in this case and in accordance with article 10.6.3 of the Code, decreased Lugo’s period of ineligibility to two-years. Lugo’s period of ineligibility began on May 17, 2015, the date on which her sample was collected. In addition, Lugo has been disqualified from all competitive results achieved in competitions sanctioned by the UCI or any Code signatory on and subsequent to May 17, 2015, including forfeiture of any medals, points, and prizes.

• This media release was originally published on the USADA internet site on 26 April 2016. To access the original, please click here.

CAS upholds Gibraltar FA appeal on FIFA membership

Posted on by Media Release

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has issued its decision in the appeal arbitration procedure between the Gibraltar Football Association (GFA) and the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). The GFA’s appeal against the decision issued by the FIFA Executive Committee on 26 September 2014 is partially upheld to the extent that the FIFA Executive Committee is ordered to transmit the Gibraltar Football Association’s application for FIFA membership to the FIFA Congress, which shall take all necessary measures to admit the Gibraltar Football Association as a full member of FIFA without delay.

The GFA has sought for twenty years to become a member of UEFA and FIFA. In May 2013, as a result of a CAS arbitration, it became a member of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and went on to seek membership of FIFA. On 26 September 2014, the FIFA Executive Committee informed the GFA that the requirements for admission to FIFA were not met and that it would not submit the GFA’s application to the FIFA Congress (which is the body authorised to admit new members to FIFA). The GFA filed an appeal against such decision at the CAS, arguing that FIFA improperly rejected its application and that the CAS should directly award it with FIFA membership.

The CAS procedure was conducted by a Panel of three CAS arbitrators: Prof. Massimo Coccia, Italy (President), Prof. Jan Paulsson, France, and Mr Bernhard Welten, Switzerland.

The Panel found that the CAS did have jurisdiction to entertain the appeal and accepted that the GFA’s application should have been transferred to the FIFA Congress. However, the CAS Panel refused to directly grant FIFA membership to GFA. Accordingly, the Panel has unanimously ordered that the FIFA Congress take all necessary measures to admit the GFA as a full member of FIFA as soon as possible, within the limits of the FIFA Statutes.

For further information related to the CAS activity and procedures in general, please contact either Mr Matthieu Reeb, CAS Secretary General, or Ms Katy Hogg, Communications Officer. Château de Béthusy, Avenue de Beaumont 2, 1012 Lausanne, Switzerland. [email protected]; Tel: (41 21) 613 50 00; fax: (41 21) 613 50 01, or consult the CAS website: www.tas-cas.org

• This media release was originally published by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on 2 May 2016. To access the original, please click here.