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
UK Sport is considering an option for it to refuse funding to National Governing Bodies (NGBs) who do not have the required level of independence in investigations, disciplinary panels and appeals in circumstances such as bullying and serious misconduct allegations. UK Sport said that a consultation with NGBs on...
Hacking group Fancy Bears appears to have scored an own goal. The way in which it has publicised its latest hack into emails between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appears to reveal more about the political motives behind the organisation than it does...
Four New Zealand rugby union players were sanctioned for doping at the end of last year, decisions published by New Zealand Rugby have revealed. The players all bought prohibited substances from the Clenbuterol NZ website, the owner of which was jailed last year. A Drug Free Sport New Zealand...
• Anti-Doping Switzerland has halved a four year ban issued to an amateur athlete for doping, after he helped the organisation catch and convict another athlete for doping. ‘According to the Disciplinary Chamber for Doping Cases, the statement of a key witness is one of the few, rare opportunities...
The PGA Tour has suspended Brad Fritsch for three months, after the golfer reported that a supplement he had been using contained a banned substance. Fritsch said that he had been using BioSom as part of a weight loss programme, and later discovered that it contained Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), an...
Eight horse trainers have been charged with various breaches of the Australian Rules of Racing, following an investigation by Racing Victoria into the raceday treatment of Lovani, which grew to encompass over 100 instances of alleged doping of horses stretching back seven years. In total, 271 charges have been...
Japanese Sprint canoeist Yasuhiro Suzuki has been sanctioned with an eight year ban for spiking the drink of rival Seiji Komatsu in order to cause him to fail an anti-doping test, an investigation by the Japan Canoe Federation has found. It is understood that 32 year old Suzuki and...
Two Russian speed skaters subject to a life ban from the Olympics for doping helped Russia take gold in the women’s team pursuit and silver in the men’s team pursuit at the European Speed Skating Championships in Kolomna, Russia, 5-7 January. Olga Fatkulina helped Russia take gold in the...
The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) has provisionally suspended two weightlifters for potentially violating its anti-doping rules. The first is Russian Oleg Chen, who the IWF said ‘has been charged with the violation of Article 2.2 of the IWF Anti-Doping Policy’, which relates to use or attempted use of a...
A former Great Britain and England international rugby league player has escaped a sanction for refusing a doping test, on the basis that he did not hear the seals crack on water bottles provided to him by a Doping Control Officer (DCO) ahead of the test. Ryan Bailey of...
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is to introduce dried blood spot testing, after the idea was suggested to it by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). “USADA came to us earlier in the year and said: we’ve got some new technology, what do you guys thin about getting your programme...
The Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) carried out 857 tests during its first year of operation, its 2016/17 Annual Report (PDF below) reveals. Of that total, 265 comprised in competition tests, and 592 were out of competition tests, resulting in four adverse analytical findings (AAFs). During the year, its...
The International Luge Federation (FIL) has decided against sanctioning two Sochi 2014 silver medalists Tatyana Ivanova and Albert Demchenko, despite both being banned by the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Oswald Commission. On 22 December, the two Russians were found to have committed anti-doping rule violations (ADRVs), were disqualified, and...
A 20 year old rugby union player has been sanctioned with a four year ban after returning an adverse analytical finding (AAF) for drostanolone and methylhexaneamine. Craig Hoare tested positive following the Spartans (Gloucester) vs. Old Whitgiftians RFU Junior Vase semi-final on 15 April 2017. Spartans won the game...
Wolfgang Pichler, the German coach of Sweden’s biathlon team, is taking legal advice after finding himself banned from the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics due to his involvement with Russian biathletes who have been sanctioned for doping. Pichler coached the Russian biathlon team from 2011 until 2014 – specifically, Jana...
