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
Peter Ivanov (Пётр Иванов) has been elected as the new President of the Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF), in an election that was apparently attended by Oleg Matytsin (Олег Матыцин), Russia’s Minister of Sport. After a ten year political career including being Deputy Chairman of the Moscow region, Ivanov was...
The international federation of football associations (FIFA) has failed to remove its Gender Verification Regulations from its internet site, over a year after promising to do so at Play The Game 2019. It has also failed to respond to questions from The Sports Integrity Initiative about why the Regulations...
Recent Decisions in the Shayna Jack1 and Andrea Iannone2 cases illustrate that when an athlete claims that an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) is the result of contamination, their sanction largely depends on whether the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) believes them. Both athletes were sanctioned with an ADRV,...
• The Swiss Sports Parliament passed the new Swiss Olympic Doping Statute on 20 November, which mandates free legal assistance for athletes accused of an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV). The Statute is binding for all associations affiliated with the Swiss Olympic Committee (SOV). The main changes are summarised by...
The hearing into allegations of medical malpractice against Dr. Richard Freeman, former doctor to British Cycling and Team Sky, is set to continue into 2021. ‘Given the stage the hearing is at we don’t expect it to conclude in this session and further dates will be required in 2021’,...
• The winners of October’s Sofia Marathon Youssef Sbaii (Morocco) and Viktoriia Khapilina (Ukraine) have been provisionally suspended after returning adverse analytical findings for erythropoietin (EPO), the Athletics Integrity Unit of World Athletics has announced on its Provisional Suspensions page. Sbaii finished with the same time (2:13:03) as fellow Moroccan Redouane...
An External Review Commission (ERC) tasked with investigating allegations of past wrongdoing within the International Biathlon Union (IBU) has found that there was a conspiracy to cover up eight Russian doping cases. The connections between the officials involved also gives a rare insight into how Russian State doping may...
Caster Semenya is to challenge the DSD Regulations of World Athletics in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), her lawyers told Reuters, confirming an intention they announced in September. The Swiss Federal Tribunal (SFT) declined to set aside a ruling of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)...
The passage of the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act (RADA) by the US Senate yesterday has heightened frictions between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the US. The Act (H.R.835) aims to establish criminal penalties for defrauding international sporting competitions through doping schemes, however WADA is concerned about its extra-territorial reach. ...
• The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) of World Athletics has appealed a Sport Resolutions Panel Decision to clear Salwa Eid Naser of two anti-doping rule violations (ADRVs) to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), it announced on Twitter (below). On 14 October, the Panel dismissed two ADRVs based...
The Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF) announced that 1,785 athletes have been tested since the start of 2020, resulting in 25 (1.4%) sanctions for anti-doping rules violations (ADRVs). Robert Popov (Роберт Попов), RusAF’s Anti-Doping Manager, explained that as at 10 November, RusAF has eight athletes in the International Registered Testing...
• Mexico’s ministry of finance and public credit (SHCP) is investigating a network of ghost companies allegedly involving former Chivas Director José Luis Higuera Barberi, reports Reforma. Higuera left the club in June last year, and is currently President of Atlético Morelia in the Liga BBVA Expansión. He was...
• The Cyprus football association (KOP) has received a report from UEFA suggesting suspicious betting activity during the 30 October Second Division match between Aris Limassol and Alki Oroklini, it announced on Monday. The KOP said that it has informed the police, and the ‘relevant disciplinary regulation’ that applies...
Swiss bank Julius Bär has paid US$79.7 million to enter a three year deferred prosecution agreement with the US Department of Justice (DoJ), after Swiss authorities found the bank failed to comply with anti-money laundering provisions in relation to transactions involving FIFA. These ‘transactions’ involved the facilitation of bribes...
Searches have been conducted at three football clubs as part of investigations into allegations of economic crimes including tax fraud and money laundering. The investigations involved 29 searches across the country involving eight households; one foundation; three sporting companies; nine other companies, two clubs and two law firms, confirmed...
