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
A new study suggests that saliva tests for concussion in rugby may be a possibility in the future. The study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, found the presence of specific biomarkers in the saliva of male rugby union players diagnosed with concussion. The test has the...
Sport’s commercial self interest in ensuring that competitions continue makes it ineffective at self policing against corruption, doping, and issues that may harm athletes, heard delegates at Sport Resolutions 2021. In the first session of yesterday’s virtual conference, delegates heard how sport has historically failed to take effective preventative...
MTK Global, the boxing management company founded by alleged criminal Daniel Kinahan, has expanded its move into the football industry by agreeing a partnership with the Kanu International Football Academy (KIFA), founded by former Arsenal player Nwankwo Kanu. The move follows the company’s launch of MTK Football, a player...
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is to sue a publisher for libel over claims in a book suggesting that his purchase of the club owed more to political orders and less to his love of football. The targets of his legal action are HarperCollins and author Catherine Belton, a former Moscow...
The International Skating Union (ISU) replied to six questions about concerns that the 22-28 March Stockholm 2021 Figure Skating Championships may become a ‘super-spreader’ of Covid-19 by reiterating that health and safety of all participants ‘remains the number one priority’, and by pointing to existing Guidance. On Friday 19...
• Aleksey Vlasenko (Алексея Власенко), President of Russia’s Synchronised Swimming, Diving, and Water Polo federations has been arrested on fraud charges, reports Sports.ru. The arrest has been confirmed by the Synchronised Swimming and Diving federations. Vlasenko is also Chairman of the international swimming federation’s (FINA) Diving Technical Committee; a...
Dr. Richard Freeman has been struck off the Medical Register, after the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) found that misconduct during a six year period when he acted as Team Doctor to British Cycling and Team Sky had impaired his fitness to practice. The MPTS said that Freeman’s behaviour...
Five Russian athletes from various sports have been sanctioned for anti-doping rule violations, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) confirmed this week. Sergei Isaev (Сергея Исаева) has been sanctioned with a two year ban from 18 November 2020, following an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) for an unnamed substance. The young...
A lack of response to concerns that the Stockholm 2021 Figure Skating World Championships could become a Covid-19 ‘super spreader’ contradicts claims by the International Skating Union (ISU) and the local organising committee that health and safety of all participants is ‘the number one priority’. An online petition, which has...
• Elso Frediani, former Directeur Sportif for the Altopack cycling team, has been sanctioned with a 30 year ban, Italy’s national anti-doping agency (NADO Italia) announced. Police began investigating the u23 team in 2017, following the death of 21 year old Linus Rumšas in 2017 from a heart attack....
An Open Letter published on the Bulgarian Swimming Federation (Българска федерациця плувни спортове) internet site has accused the media of attempting to destroy Bulgarian swimming, following claims that three adverse analytical findings (AAFs) for stanozolol were caused by pills distributed at a training camp. The Letter repeats previous claims...
The Russian Football Union (РФС) has confirmed that following notification from FIFA, it is investigating three potential anti-doping rule violations (ADRVs) from 2013, involving two men and one woman. FIFA has also confirmed that the three cases resulted from analysis of the Laboratory Information Management System retrieved from the...
• Finland’s anti-doping agency (SUEK) announced it is investigating whether track and field athlete Lotta Harala committed an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) by competing whilst serving a doping ban. Harala was sanctioned with a three month ban from 13 October 2020 until 12 January 2021, after a sample given...
Dr. Richard Freeman has been found guilty of ordering Testogel which he knew or suspected would be used to improve a British Cyclist’s performance, then lying about it and falsifying documents in an attempt to conceal his conduct. Dr. Freeman had already admitted 18 of the 22 charges levelled...
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has released its list of candidates for today’s elections, after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) completed its assessment of challenges to CAF and FIFA Decisions to block certain candidatures. The only candidate for CAF President is Patrice Motsepe, after the CAS...
