• China has formally criminalised doping in sport. The National People’s Congress voted to adopt Amendment XI to Article 355 of its Criminal Law on Saturday, reports State news agency Xinhua. The amendment, which can be viewed here, criminalises those encouraging athletes to use prohibited substances, as well as those who supply them to athletes.

• Bralon Taplin has been sanctioned with an additional three year ban for whereabouts failures, according to a list of sanctions published by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) of World Athletics. Taplin is already serving a four year ban for intentionally avoiding a doping test after he won the 400m a the Grenada Invitational, which was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in May. The CAS found that Taplin was informed by a chaperone that he must undergo doping control, however he left the stadium and flew home the next day.

• A basketball player and a boxer have been sanctioned for anti-doping rule violations (ADRVs) involving prohibited substances, India’s national anti-doping agency (NADA India) announced. Satnam Singh Bhamara, of the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Memphis Grizzlies, has been sanctioned with a two year ban for an ADRV involving higenamine; and boxer Nishu has ben sanctioned with a four year ban for an ADRV involving metandienone.

Satnam Singh Bhamara ,Basketball Player tested positive for Higenamine Beta-2-Agonist. Anti Doping Discpilinary Panel has imposed 2 years Ineligbility on him.@YASMinistry @BFI_basketball

— NADA India (@NADAIndiaOffice) December 24, 2020

Ms.Nishu of Boxing discipline had tested dope postive for Probhibited Substance Mentandienone (Anabolic Androgenic Steroid). ADDP has imposed 4 years Ineligibility on her.@YASMinistry @BFI_official

— NADA India (@NADAIndiaOffice) December 27, 2020

• Volleyball player Tommaso Fabi has been provisionally suspended after he returned an adverse analytical finding (AAF) for a metabolite of THC (cannabis) at a Serie A2 Championship game on 15 November, Italy’s national anti-doping agency (NADO Italia) announced. 

• Nikita Khakimov (Никита Хакимов) has been sanctioned with a five year ban for offering money to a player to fix a 2018 European Team Championship match, betting on matches, failing to cooperate with an investigation, and destroying evidence, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) announced. A whistleblower approached the BWF due to a message sent from Khakimov’s Facebook account encouraging him not to use his best efforts in return for money, the Full Decision reveals. It also found that Khakimov destroyed all outgoing messages on his mobile phone for the period in question before handing his phone over to BWF investigators. Khakimov has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

• A Normalisation Committee for the Ivory Coast football association has been appointed; and the mandate of the Pakistan Football Federation’s (PFF) Normalisation Commission has been extended, the international federation of football associations (FIFA) announced. The PFF Normalisation Committee was appointed on 27 June 2019.