• Nesta Carter has been sanctioned with a four year ban due to an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) involving clomiphene, his lawyer has confirmed. It is understood that the Jamaican sprinter avoided a longer ban for a second doping offence because his previous ADRV occurred from a 2016 retest of a sample taken in 2008, and therefore fell outside of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) ten year Statute of Limitations. In 2017, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) disqualified Carter after reanalysis of a 2008 sample undertaken in 2016 resulted in an adverse analytical finding (AAF – or ‘positive test’) for methylhexanamine. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) dismissed his appeal, despite the fact that methylhexanamine didn’t specifically feature on the 2008 Prohibited List. 

• French prosecutors are seeking a two year prison sentence for Bernard Sainz, known by the ‘Doctor Mabuse’ monicker, reports Ouest France. Sainz was charged with illegal practice of medicine; illegal practice of pharmacology; and inciting use of prohibited substances in sport. The charges were advanced after Sainz was filmed giving doping advice to athletes in 2016. 

• Halima Hachlaf has been sanctioned with a six year ban from 9 April 2021 for an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) involving methylprednisolone, which represents the Moroccan middle distance runner’s second ADRV. The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) of World Athletics accepted that her adverse analytical finding (AAF – or ‘positive test’) was due to an intramuscular injection of methylprednisolone, which she showed was due to emergency medical treatment involving Depo-medrol (80 mg/2 ml) on 13 January 2021 through provision of medical documentation. Hachlaf was previously sanctioned with a four year ban expiring on 19 December 2017 for an ADRV involving anomalies in her athlete biological passport (ABP).

• The Netherlands’ Doping Autoriteit is celebrating the tenth anniversary of the launch of its Anti-Doping Knowledge Centre (ADKC), which now contains over 7,800 records of anti-doping case law, scientific literature and other relevant documents – such as unpublished Decisions. As such, the ADKC represents a valuable resource for anybody involved in anti-doping proceedings.

• Powerlifter Carlos Petterson-Griffith has been provisionally suspended after returning an adverse analytical finding (AAF – or ‘positive test’) at the North American Powerlifting Federation / South American Powerlifting federation (FESUPO) Championships in Orlando, 18-21 August. A statement from the Guayana Amateur Powerlifting Federation (GAPLF) was published in full by Kaieteur News, which the GAPLF has confirmed is accurate.