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 World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has been blocked from completing its mission to extract data from the Moscow Laboratory by Russian authorities, which told a five person WADA team that the equipment used to extract the data was required to be certified under Russian law. ‘This issue had not...
Recent comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Viktor Maygurov, Vice President of the Russian Biathlon Union (RBU), have attempted to reassert the message that doping was not directed by the State, and all issues are being resolved. “To a large extent, we are to blame for the situation...
On 3 December, Canadian weightlifter Christine Girard stepped onto the podium to receive Canada’s first Olympic weightlifting Gold. It had taken her a lifetime of dedication, personal sacrifice and training to get to this point. However the ceremony didn’t take place in an Olympic Stadium, but at a special...
The Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act (RADA) has been introduced into the US Senate, after being introduced to the US House of Representatives in June this year. The Act (PDF below) would establish criminal penalties for defrauding international sporting competitions through doping schemes. The Act was introduced by Senators Sheldon Whitehouse...
Two Russian track and field athletes and one powerlifter have been sanctioned for doping offences, after it emerged that Russian athletes have not returned any Olympic medals during 2018. The Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF) confirmed that it had sanctioned 23 year old sprinter Julia Malueva (Юлия Малуева) with a...
Five Russian biathletes and five coaches have received notification from Austrian State authorities that they are being investigated for doping, which is a criminal offence in the country. The charges relate to the 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Championships in the Austrian town of Hochfilzen, where the 2018...
The Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) has signed an agreement with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to build a ‘business case for sports integrity’ that is designed to be presented to governments in order to encourage them to invest in sports integrity. However, questions remain...
• Olympic cyclist Jess Varnish has outlined the ‘extreme control’ that British Cycling had over her life in an attempt to prove to a Manchester Employment Tribunal that she was a employee of British Cycling, which would then allow her to bring a discrimination claim against the body, reports...
New Zealand Rugby’s Judicial Committee has sanctioned six rugby union players with bans as part of ongoing investigations into customers of the Clenbuterol NZ internet site. Rugby players make up 20 of the 26 athletes sanctioned as a result of investigations, 18 of which are rugby union players and...
In an arbitration hearing, US double Olympic gold medal winner Stephen Lopez temporarily overturned a life ban imposed by USA Taekwondo after a SafeSport investigation found him guilty of sexual misconduct involving a minor. Lopez was issued with a life ban on 6 September, and although his name has...
• An independent report has accused the US Olympic Committee (USOC) of being amongst organisations that both facilitated Larry Nassar’s sexual abuse of athletes, and failed to act when the allegations emerged. The lengthly report (click here to download; and click here for an Executive Summary), compiled by law...
• The Iditarod Trail Committee (ITC) has absolved Dallas Seavey of any responsibility for a positive test reported by his dogs after the 2017 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. It is understood that the Musher’s legal team argued that tramadol detected in the urine of the dogs was administered...
The Bulgarian weightlifting federation (BWF) has sanctioned youth weightlifter Dayana Dimitrova with a life ban, after she returned a second adverse analytical finding (AAF) for furosemide, a diuretic she had previously been banned for using during April 2017. Her coach, Bozhidar Bozhilov, has also been sanctioned with a life...
Mexican racewalker Maria Guadalupe Gonzalez-Romero is arguing that contaminated meat caused her October adverse analytical finding (AAF) for trenbolone, and it is understood that the Mexican Olympic Committee (MOC) is supporting her case. Gonzalez-Romero, known as Lupita, was notified of her October AAF last month by the Athletics Integrity...
The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) has filed an appeal against a 21 November Moscow City Court decision allowing Alexander Zubkov keep two Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic gold medals despite being disqualified by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) asked it to intervene....
