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
The number of anti-doping tests conducted by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) declined for the first time in ten years in 2020, illustrating the impact that Covid-19 is likely to have on the testing programmes of international sporting federations. The ITF reported 3,282 tests in 2020, its lowest number...
Germany’s national anti-doping agency (NADA Deutschland) has ‘initiated proceedings’ against Björn Thurau for several possible anti-doping rule violations (ADRVs). The former professional cyclist was a presenter on the Global Cycling Network’s GCN auf Deutsch, which launched in January last year. NADA Deutschland said that it had notified Thurau, the...
Spain’s agency for health protection in sport (AEPSAD) will dedicate itself solely to anti-doping as part of sports governance reforms in the country. Under amendments to Spain’s anti-doping legislation (Ley Orgánica de lucha contra el dopaje), AEPSAD’s health and sport functions will pass to the Spanish sports council (CSD),...
• The Zwift Performance Verification Board has sanctioned two riders for intentionally manipulating their power data. Antonina Reznikov admitted editing her power data before submitting it to Zwift, and has been suspended from 11 January until 10 July. Selma Trommer admitted that her power data had been edited, but...
A five person independent Panel is to consider whether sanctions should be imposed on the Romanian Weightlifting Federation (FRH), after four anti-doping rule violations (ADRVs) involving Romanian lifters were discovered in a year. The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) announced that the International Testing Agency (ITA) has completed reanalysis of...
• Sergey Shubenkov (Серге́й Шубенков) has denied returning an adverse analytical finding (AAF) for furosemide, after reports to that effect appeared in the Russian media. ‘All the information about the fact that I used furosemide and that it was found in a sample is blatant slander, invented by a...
A property developer and amateur cyclist who used his knowledge to direct a criminal gang to conduct a series of burglaries in northern Italy has been sanctioned with a seven year ban for importing veterinary medication for use by amateur cyclists. Italy’s national anti-doping agency (NADO Italia) also announced...
• A Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) hearing into misconduct allegations against former British Cycling and Team Sky doctor Richard Freeman is set to continue until at least May this year, the MPTS schedule reveals. On Monday this week, the General Medical Council (GMC) summed up its case against...
The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) is taking legal advice regarding the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s (CAS) Decision to sanction Russia for the failure of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) to deliver an authentic copy of the Moscow Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)....
Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah, President of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), offered inducements to Mariyam Mohamed to withdraw her candidature for election to the Executive Committee of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruling has confirmed. As such, the CAS found that...
• Adeline Bervoux has been sanctioned with a two year ban for an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) involving acetazolamide, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced. At a 24 September 2019 test, the wheelchair tennis player listed Cymbalta: 60mg; Lyrica: 300mg x 2; Diamond: 60mg; and Lp voltarene: 100mg on...
The Spanish anti-doping agency (AEPSAD) may have to redact the names of athletes investigated for doping, after a court dismissed its appeal against a sanction issued by the country’s data protection agency (AEPD) for failing to protect an athlete’s personal data. As the relevant provisions of a 1999 Spanish...
The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IRHB) has suspended the licence of Cheltenham Festival winning trainer Charles Byrnes for six months, after a horse competing at Tramore Racecourse on 18 October 2018 was found to be heavily sedated. Following previous good performances, Viking Hoard was pulled up before the seventh...
NADO Italia has announced sanctions on people involved in three criminal investigations that encompass a reality TV show; a cycling team; and an illegal drugs network. The first investigation involved Temptation Island, a popular TV show that airs on Canale 5. In 2017, the UK’s Advisory Council on the...
• Dr. Mark Schmidt was sentenced to four years and ten months in prison by a court in Munich, reports AFP. The German doctor was found to have operated a blood doping ring as a result of the Operation Aderlass investigation by Austrian and German police, which began in...
