• The Central Criminal Court of Spain’s Audienca Nacional has sentenced six people accused of running a sports doping ring led by Alberto Beltrán Niño to six months in prison, reports El Dia. Beltrán was arrested in Colombia at the request of Spanish police in June. In April 2001, whilst working for Selle Italia, Spanish police stopped his car near Modena and found a large amount of doping products. He was also at LA Liberty Seguros when three cyclists tested positive for CERA (continuous erythropoietin receptor activator) at the 2009 Tour of Portugal, including winner Nuno Ribeiro. In 2012 he was arrested at Madrid airport with two next-generation performance-enhancing drugs, along with 10 other people. In 2014, cyclist David García Dapena provided information to the police about a doping network, allegedly led by Beltrán, which led police to issue a Red Notice through Interpol, registering him as an internationally wanted person.

• Argentina’s Hockey Confederation (CAH) has been in contact with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the Fédération Internationale de Hockey (FIH) to clarify the situation regarding Facundo Callioni and Lucas Rey, both of which were named in the latest Fancy Bears hack of WADA’s Anti-Doping Administration and Management System (ADAMS). ‘In 2010 and 2014, Facundo Callioni and Lucas Rey – respecting the procedures established by WADA – requested through a TUE (Therapeutic Use Exemption) form, authorisation to receive one-time therapeutic treatment through the use use of prohibited substances, with the conformity of the Medical Commission of the FIH’, read a CAH statement. ‘Neither case refers to a positive doping control. In contrast, these players followed the correct procedure under the WADA process’.

• Bolzano prosecutors have reportedly ordered that doping samples relating to Italian race walker Alex Schwazer undergo DNA analysis, in order to prove that they relate to him. In August, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) dismissed Schwazer’s appeal against a provisional suspension imposed by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) shortly after he had returned from a four year ban, which meant that Schwazer could not take part in the Rio 2016 Olympics. Schwazer claims that his sample was interfered with and that he was set up by race walking officials keen for their own athletes to succeed.

• The UK’s Sports Betting Group has launched a revised Code of Practice via a new website launched on 21 September. The Sports Betting Group was established following the 2010 Report of the Sports Betting Integrity Panel led by Rick Parry to share information and good practice regarding betting integrity. Its members include 11 British sports governing bodies.