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
New women’s super middleweight champion boxing Alejandra Jimenez has questioned an adverse analytical finding (AAF) for stanozolol, as her post fight test a day later was negative. Jimenez defeated Franchon Crews-Dezurn on 11 January to take the World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Organisation (WBO) titles. She revealed...
• Ursula Papandrea will serve as Interim President of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), after Tamás Aján stepped aside as President following an IWF Executive Board meeting in Doha, USA Weightlifting confirmed. Aján has agreed to step aside whilst allegations of corruption are investigated by a group of independent experts appointed...
The policy adopted by many anti-doping organisations on not commenting on investigations is self defeating. It fails to protect athletes from suspicion of doping. Just ask Mo Farah. Despite Farah stating that he is happy for anyone to retest any of his samples, suspicion persists that he has doped...
Oleg Matytsin (Олега Матыцина), Russia’s new Minister of Sport, narrowly avoided criminal prosecution in 2012 for a land deal that prosecutors alleged cost the Russian State 120 million roubles (€1.75 million). As such, like many involved in Russian sport, it could be argued that he owes a debt to...
Sir Mo Farah has clarified that he is happy for any of his samples to be retested, and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has clarified that any sample taken ten years previously can be analysed by any anti-doping organisation (ADO) launching a new investigation. UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) faced criticism...
• A 33 year old football player has been arrested as part of an investigation into two football matches with ‘intense’ betting activity, Cyprus police announced on Twitter (below). The Cyprus Football Association (CFA) received a suspicious betting report from UEFA regarding a 12 January match between Aris Limassol...
UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) has said that it position regarding access to Sir Mo Farah’s samples has not changed since 2017, after it faced criticism for indicating it would not give them to other agencies unless there was credible evidence of doping. In November last year, the World Anti-Doping Agency...
Malik Sall, Senegal’s Minister of Justice, has denied that a delay in the trial of Lamine Diack, former President of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF – now World Athletics), was due to late receipt of information from the African country. Papa Massata Diack, Lamine’s son, argues that...
An Order published by the Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF) after the 10 January meeting of its Presidium emphasises that it has has the right to create or abolish the RusAF Athlete Commission, as well as to approve its members. The Order was issued in the absence of three of...
The US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has received a request from Jessica Penne to appeal a second anti-doping rule violation (ADRV), for stanozolol, after the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) fighter released a statement (below) alleging that USADA had ‘bullied and forced me into retiring from MMA ’. USADA...
• A distance runner has been sanctioned with a two year ban and a snooker player has been provisionally suspended, after both returned adverse analytical findings (AAF) on 17 November last year, Serbia’s anti-doping agency (ADAS) announced. Former national marathon champion Nenad Zivkovic (Ненад Живковић) was sanctioned with a...
Weightlifting officials have corroborated allegations that millions of dollars of International Olympic Committee (IOC) revenue allocated to the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) remains unaccounted for. It also appears that the IWF may have violated its own Constitution and Bylaws by failing to investigate the corruption allegations, after the Court...
The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) has said that it ‘categorically denies’ allegations of corruption featured in a new documentary broadcast by ARD’s SportsChau on 5 January. However, its statement of response only denies select aspects of the documentary’s allegations, which the International Olympic Committee (IOC) described as “serious and...
The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) of World Athletics has sanctioned three athletes with bans for anti-doping rule violations (ADRVs), and has provisionally suspended two after positive tests. Distance runner Sammy Kitwara has been sanctioned with a 16 month ban after returning an adverse analytical finding (AAF) for terbutaline at...
The Director General of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) has said that the requirement for him to inform the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) about a RUSADA Supervisory Board decision to appeal WADA’s sanction, without him having input into that decision, highlights a lack of independence. Yet independence from outside...
