Andy has been writing about the governance of sport for over 15 years. Prior to working on the Sports Integrity Initiative, he was the editor of World Sports Law Report for eight years. He has also worked for the Press Association and has written for numerous trade magazines. He has also created, chaired and spoken at numerous conferences on the business of sport, and produced the Sports Law Show for iSportConnect TV.
All posts by Andy Brown
Athletes currently serving a sanction for a ‘substance of abuse’ can apply for a reduction, now that the 2021 World Anti-Doping Code has come into effect. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has previously confirmed that athletes whose sanction expires after 1 January 2021 can apply for a review of...
The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) is understood to be investigating the Izhevsk Rifle competition, held over the Christmas period, due to allegations that the the arrival of doping control officers (DCOs) prompted mass withdrawals. It is understood that after DCOs turned up to test the women, who competed from...
A two game suspension reportedly issued to Luke Gifford of Dallas Cowboys has once again highlighted differences between the World Anti-Doping Code and the anti-doping programmes of the US professional leagues. The argument that has broken out between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the US over differing sanctions...
Cyclist Emiliano Zara, marathon runner Nino di Francesco and powerlifter Luigi Corti have been sanctioned with four year bans, Italy’s national anti-doping agency (NADO Italia) announced. Zara’s sanction will expire on 15 October 2024, after he was provisionally suspended in October due to an AAF for clenbuterol at the...
• The Swiss Federal Tribunal (Bundesgericht) has said that it is up to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to assess if Romano Subiotto is eligible to serve as a member of the Panel during its rehearing of Sun Yang’s case, reports the Associated Press. Subiotto’s independence was...
Brent Naden will be free to return to action on 1 January 2021, despite a 25 October 2020 test after the Australian National Rugby League (NRL) Grand Final returning an adverse analytical finding (AAF) for metabolites of cocaine. ‘Having established that the ingestion of the cocaine was out-of-competition and...
• China has formally criminalised doping in sport. The National People’s Congress voted to adopt Amendment XI to Article 355 of its Criminal Law on Saturday, reports State news agency Xinhua. The amendment, which can be viewed here, criminalises those encouraging athletes to use prohibited substances, as well as...
Equestrian Canada is waiting to hear if it will be able to compete at the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics, due to a complicated case involving Jumping athlete Nicole Walker. The Canadian equestrian team initially finished fourth at the Lima 2019 PanAmerican Games, but was later bumped down to seventh...
Marathon runner Cornelia ‘Conny’ Köpper has been sanctioned with a ten year ban until 10 December 2030, for trafficking erythropoietin (EPO), Genotropin and testosterone to triathletes; and for possession and use of human albumin and prohibited infusions. The Austrian anti-doping rights commission (ÖADR) found that Köpper had used prohibited...
Analysis of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) 2018 figures reveals that just 0.62% of anti-doping tests resulted in an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) being asserted against an athlete. A 2015 review of studies examining the prevalence of doping in elite sports by respected anti-doping scientist Olivier de Hon estimates...
The eight year ban imposed on swimmer Sun Yang has been set aside and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will have to rehear the case, after lawyers successfully argued that one of the Arbitrators was biased, confirmed the Swiss Federal Tribunal (Bundesgericht). ‘The Swiss Federal Tribunal’s decision...
• The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has upheld a two year sanction imposed on Brazilian judoka Rafaela Silva, who won the -57kg category at the Lima 2019 PanAmerican Games. The CAS ruld that Silva couldn’t prove the route of ingestion of anti-asthmatic drug fenoterol, which she had...
The number of samples analysed due to tests commissioned by the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) fell by 30% from 1,287 during 2018 to 895 during 2019, according to reports published by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). ADAK placed 46th out of 117 national anti-doping organisations (NADOs) in a...
• The Ethics Board of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF – now World Athletics) has sanctioned Ahmad Al Kamali with a six month ban, after finding that gifts of watches given to delegates at the March 2015 Confederation Africaine d’Athletisme (CAA) Congress breached its Code of Ethics....
The World Air Sports Federation (FAI) and the International Federation of Sports Climbing (IFSC) have failed to respond to questions from The Sports Integrity Initiative over whether scheduled World Championships will take place in Russia next year. Yesterday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that Russia may...
