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
• Italy has opened a federal investigation into whether Italian football clubs have artificially inflated the value of player transfers in order to help balance club accounts, reports Reuters. It is understood that a Report by the Supervisory Commission for Serie A clubs (COVISOC) examined 62 player transfers that...
Edgars Gauračs, a former Striker for the Latvian national team and Director General at Latvian club FK Spartaks Jūrmala, has been sanctioned with a ten year ban for match-fixing. UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body took the decision at a recent meeting. Gauračs was sanctioned under Article 12.2(a)(d) and...
UK Anti-Doping’s (UKAD) logo boasts ‘Protecting Sport’. What if we take this at face value? Could UKAD’s real aim be to protect British sporting bodies rather than its athletes? Its actions around allegations of systemic doping that have plagued British sport for the past decade suggest there may be...
Two cases from this week reveal how a differing approach to evidence from athletes charged with an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) can engender or endanger athlete trust in an anti-doping organisation (ADO). Such trust is necessary in order to discover the people and processes that enable athletes to dope....
• Scientists from the University of Strasbourg, engaged by French Police, have found Tizanidine in hair samples taken from ‘international racing cyclists’, reports a September Study. The muscle relaxant, sold under the trade names Sirdalud or Zanaflex, doesn’t feature on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) Prohibited List. It is...
There are questions over how the international basketball federation’s (FIBA) Global Betting Partner, J9.com is licensed, investigations by The Sports Integrity Initiative have revealed. On its internet site, the company claims to be licensed by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR). FIBA claims that J9 works under a...
• Oleg Matytsin (Олег Матыцин), Russia’s Minister of Sport, has Chaired the first meeting of the Russian Government Commission on the implementation of the UNESCO International Convention Against Doping in Sport. The composition of the Commission was approved by the Russian government on 6 October and includes Russia’s Ministry...
The German ice hockey federation (DEB) has rejected allegations suggesting ‘questionable payments’ involving Franz Reindl, its President, as unfounded. The allegations were initially published by Der Spiegel in early June ahead of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Presidential election, in which Reindl lost out as a candidate to replace...
An Italian cyclist and canoeist have both received one year reductions to four year bans for early admission and acceptance of their sanctions, as permitted under Article 10.8.1 of the World Anti-Doping Code. Cyclist Piero Rinaldini returned an adverse analytical finding (AAF – or ‘positive test’) for testosterone from...
Eight athletes from five countries, competing in seven sports were involved in anti-doping procedures announced this week. The major news involves Italy’s 2021 Time Trial champion Francesco Pescialioli, who was sanctioned with a four year ban for evading a test. This could be far less dramatic than it...
Three Italian athletes have been sanctioned for anti-doping rule violations (ADRVs), whilst a fourth has been provisionally suspended after returning an adverse analytical finding (AAF – or ‘positive test’) for a prohibited substance. Italian cycling time trial champion Francesco Pesciaioli has been sanctioned with a four year ban for...
• The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has released an updated version of its Prohibited Association List, which features Athlete Support Personnel that athletes are prohibited from associating with under Article 2.10 of the World Anti-Doping Code. The list features 155 names compared to the 166 featured on the 13...
At the end of August 2020, the Founders of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) appointed Mikhail Bukhanov (Михаил Буханов) as acting Director General, promising an election by April this year. Over a year later he is still in place, and appears to be the only candidate to replace his...
The reason that The Sports Integrity Initiative’s Anti-Doping Monitor focuses on athletes affiliated to sporting federations is fairness. We have attempted to prevent the appearance that high rates of adverse analytical findings (AAFs – or ‘positive tests’) or anti-doping rule violations (ADRVs) in countries that have criminalised doping suggests...
• Cyclist Piero Rinaldini, who won August’s Sticciano to Sticciano race organised by the UISP Italian amateur sport organisation, has returned an adverse analytical finding (AAF – or ‘positive test’) for testosterone. Rinaldini returned his AAF at the Trofeo Paesetto on 18 August, Italy’s national anti-doping agency (NADO Italia) announced....
