• The Mexican anti-doping laboratory (Laboratorio Nacional de Prevencion y Control del Dopaje – LNPCD) has ceased operations despite its efforts to convince the Mexican authorities to keep it open, announced the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The Laboratory was suspended over its handling of Paola Pliego’s case, resulting in the fencer receiving damages in January (see tweet below) after a successful lawsuit against Mexico’s national commission for physical culture and sport (CONADE). Mexico’s laboratory means that just five Laboratories operate in the Americas, compared to one in Africa, six in Asia, 17 in Europe and one in Oceania.

A todos los que han estado a mi lado: pic.twitter.com/QiKjLYHVQY

— Paola Pliego (@PaolaPliego) January 23, 2020

• A pan-European operation targeting the use of counterfeit medication has involved the seizure of 36 million units of medication, including doping substances. A Europol statement said that Asia remains the main source for doping products.

• Nikola Jovanović has been provisionally suspended after testing positive for a prohibited substance, the Anti-Doping Agency of Serbia (ADAS) has confirmed. The boxer competed in the 75kg category at the Golden Gloves tournament held in Serbia in November last year.

• Lithuania is developing a specific plan to tackle the manipulation of sporting competitions. The announcement was made by the Lithuanian Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, when signing a new cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Special Investigation Service, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Gambling Supervision Authority, and the Financial Crime Authority to tackle the manipulation of sporting competitions. “In the near future, we intend to develop a specific plan to combat manipulation of sports competitions”, said Education, Science and Sports Minister Algirdas Monkevičius in a statement.

• Canadian boxer Alexis Barrière has been sanctioned with a five month ban for an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) involving stanozolol. ‘The athlete’s contact with stanozolol was inadvertent’, read a statement from the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES).

• Weightlifter Addison Jones has accepted a six month ban for an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) for a metabolite of cannabis, the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has announced. Nine US weightlifters have been sanctioned for doping since December 2019.

• Korean para-archer Jeong Jinyoung has served a five month suspension for an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) involving Methylprednisolone, World Archery announced.

• Australia’s Labor Party has referred MP Stuart Ayres to New South Wales’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) over allegations of improper behaviour over donations from Penrith Panthers, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. It is alleged that donations from the rugby league club resulted in a 2019 election promise to build a sports and conference centre at the club.