15 September 2020

Sports Integrity Briefs – 15 September 2020

• The international automobile federation (FIA) is investigating Lewis Hamilton for wearing a t-shirt highlighting the shooting of Breonna Taylor at the Tuscan Grand Prix over the weekend, reports the Daily Mail. The newspaper reports that the FIA’s Statutes ‘prohibit political statements of any kind’. Article 1.2 of the FIA Statutes (click here to download) only prohibits the FIA from discrimination based on political opinion, and constitutes the only mention of politics within its Statues. ‘The FIA shall refrain from manifesting discrimination on account of race, skin colour, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic or social origin, language, religion, philosophical or political opinion, family situation or disability in the course of its activities and from taking any action in this respect’, it reads. Under a strict interpretation of this Article, it would appear that if the FIA were to sanction Hamilton for holding a political opinion, it would be breaching its own Statutes. The Sports Integrity Initiative has asked the FIA to clarify the situation.

• Italy’s anti-doping tribunal has sanctioned Francesco Di Felice with a 32 month ban, the national anti-doping agency (NADO Italia) announced. It is understood that Di Felice is the latest cyclist to be sanctioned as a result of the Altopack scandal that began following the death of Linus Rumšas in 2017. 

Dzmitry Nabokau has been sanctioned with a two year ban for an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) involving furosemide, a diuretic and masking agent. The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) of World Athletics refused to accept the Belarusian high jumper’s explanation that his adverse analytical finding (AAF) had been caused due to food contaminated by medication for his grandmother’s heart condition. Nabokau’s ban will expire on 28 October 2021. ‘It is easier to prove innocence when you are guilty than to prove that you are innocent when you are not guilty’, wrote Nabokau on Instagram (below). ‘Justice is very expensive and I have spent enough already […] there is no point continuing, as the money needed is unthinkable.’

https://www.instagram.com/p/CE9sCgIlfTl/

• The Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) has hit back after it was accused of not having prosecuted a single athlete for an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) since 2016. ‘ADAK has successfully prosecuted 147 Anti-Doping Rule Violation cases’, read a statement. ‘Out of this 120 have been heard, determined and sanctions issued. There are 27 active cases. ADAK has collaborated with the Criminal Intelligence Systems in investigating, compiling and prosecution Anti-Doping criminal offences, including but not limited to trafficking and administration of prohibited substances. There are 5 active Anti-Doping criminal cases before the Kenyan law courts.’

 

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