• Austrian weightlifter Bernhard Legel has been sanctioned with a 20 months ban after testing positive for heptaminol on 5 May, the Austrian anti-doping agency (ÖADR) announced (click here to download the announcement). Heptaminol is an amino alcohol classified as a cardiac stimulant, and features on section S6 of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) Prohibited List. The ÖADR said that Legel’s ban would be backdated to 19 August and would end on 18 April 2020.

• The Italian anti-doping organisation (NADO Italia) confirmed that judoka Andrea Carlino has been provisionally suspended after reporting an adverse analytical finding for a metabolite of clostebol in a 9 September out of competition test. His case will be heard at a later date.

• Ghana’s Ministry of Youth and Sports has denied reports that its U17 team, the Black Starlets, were paid ‘slave wages’ of between GHS50 (€9) and GHS250 (€43) for participation in the West African Football Union (WAFU) Zone B U17 Cup of Nations in Niger. Ghana’s U17 team lost the final of the tournament on penalties. ‘The U17 soccer team that participated in the just ended WAFU Zone B Championship were paid per diem allowance of $70 per player and $100 for each member of the technical team for 15 days’, read a statement from the Ministry, posted on Facebook (see below). ‘After the team returned home, the Ministry directed that the team be lodged at the Mplaza Hotel before they eventually depart for their respective destinations. The team determined the fares based on each individual and the distance to their various destinations. This was presented to the Ministry for payment. The Ministry, upon receipt of the request from the Team Manager, paid each player and members of the Technical team accordingly. The Ministry therefore finds it surprising that such a gesture will be misconstrued to be wages paid to the players and the Technical team.’ 

• The International Motorcycling Federation (FIM) has withdrawn Romano Fenati’s licence, after he grabbed the brake of a rival rider (video below) during the San Marino Moto2 Grand Prix on 9 September. ‘Following the discussion with the rider and his representative, the FIM decided to withdraw Mr. Fenati’s FIM licence until the end of the current calendar year’, read an FIM statement. ‘A new FIM licence for the 2019 season may be granted to him subject to the conditions laid down in the FIM Regulations’.

FIM MotoGP Stewards ?

Black flag Romano Fenati for irresponsible riding ?#Moto2 #SanMarinoGP pic.twitter.com/sTqv6nhZer

— MotoGP™??? (@MotoGP) September 9, 2018

• The American Gaming Association (AGA) has held discussions with US professional sports leagues about the creation of an ‘integrity monitoring association’ to identify and report cases of suspicious sports betting back to the leagues. The proposal was contained in a letter (PDF below) written by the AGA to Chuck Schumer (D-NY) about the need for stakeholders to work together in order to stamp out the illegal US sports betting market. 

• The Specialised and Violent Crime (UDEV) unit of Spain’s Policía Nacional is investigating whether football clubs in the Balearic Third Division have been involved with match-fixing, reports The Majorca Daily Bulletin. It is understood that the UDEV has evidence that games have been fixed for up to €30,000 per club (€2,000 per player). It is understood that the investigation was discussed at a conference on illegal gambling hosted by the Balearic Islands football association (FFIB) and Spain’s Union of Police (SUP), held earlier this week.

• The offices of the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) have been raided by the country’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), reports the BBC. The ACC’s action means that the President of the SLFA, Isha Johansen and Secretary General Chris Kamara must vacate their posts, however it is understood that both have denied wrongdoing. The ACC charged Johansen and Kamara with corruption a year ago, but both previously refused to vacate their posts. Last year, nineteen officials were banned for life by the SLFA for taking the SLFA to court, which the SLFA argued was in violation of SLFA and FIFA Statutes. However it is understood that an injunction was sought to prevent Johansen & Kamara from running the SLFA, after Johansen’s mandate as President expired on 3 August last year. FIFA is monitoring the situation.

• Liverpool’s Croatian defender, Dejan Lovern, has denied any wrongdoing after being charged with giving a false statement during the trial of Zdravko Mamic, former Chief Executive of Dynamo Zagreb. ‘I want to say this to all – especially to my family, friends and supporters in my homeland, my club and my club’s fans in England – I am innocent’, wrote the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia silver medal winner in an Instagram post (below). ‘I did not commit any criminal offence’. Mamic was sentenced to six and a half years in prison after being charged with embezzlement and tax fraud in 2015, as well as with keeping a chunk of Luka Modric’s €21 million transfer fee relating to his 2008 move from Dynamo to Tottenham Hotspur. It is understood that Mamic continues to deny the charges. 

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Nakon dolaska s popodnevnog treninga doznao sam kako su mediji u Hrvatskoj, pa potom i u Engleskoj objavili vijest kako je protiv mene podignuta optužnica zbog davanja lažnog iskaza u jednom predmetu u Hrvatskoj. Zvali su me članovi moje obitelji, prijatelji i poznanici koji su mi saopćili isto. Dakle, prije nego što sam uopće vidio ili primio tu optužnicu, i prije nego su istu zaprimili moji odvjetnici, svi mediji su objavili tu vijest. Ovo jednostavno nije fer, nije pravedno, nije niti sportski. Na ovakav način postupati prema meni i mojoj obitelji je krajnje diskriminirajuće i nepravično. Borba koja nije poštena i na koju nisam navikao. No ovim putem želim poručiti svima, ponajprije svojoj obitelji, prijateljima, navijačima u domovini, svom klubu i navijačima mog kluba u Engleskoj kako sam nevin. Nisam počinio nikakvo kazneno djelo. Ponosan sam na svoj život, na svaki svoj korak, na sve ono što smo moja obitelj i ja stvorili. To nitko ne može zaprljati. Nikakvi mediji, zlonamjerni ljudi, ništa. S obzirom da sam sportaš, dobit ću i ovu utakmicu. Dobit ću je u svakom slučaju te tako pokazati tko sam, kako sam živio i kako živim. A živim tako da živim za svoje bližnje, za svoju Domovinu, za svoj klub i za sve moje i naše navijače. Sa indignacijom odbacujem sve optužbe, a svima koji žele narušiti moj ugled i ugled moje obitelji poručujem da neće uspjeti. Dejan Lovren dobit će i ovu bitku. I svaku drugu. Pozdrav svima, hvala na snažnoj podršci.

A post shared by Dejan Lovren (@dejanlovren06) on Sep 19, 2018 at 11:22am PDT