• Olga Vorobyova (Ольга Воробьева) has been sanctioned with a two year ban from 18 December 2020 for an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV), the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) announced. Vorobyova is a forward with Enisey (ЖБК Енисей) in Russia’s Basketball Premier League, and returned an adverse analytical finding (AAF – or ‘positive test’) for an unnamed prohibited substance.

• Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) has pulled José Uzcátegui from his 13 November fight against David Benavidez, amid reports that the Venezuelan former IBF super middleweight title holder has tested positive for erythropoietin (EPO). ESPN reports that the positive test, carried out by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA), has been confirmed by ‘multiple sources’. The Sports Integrity Initiative has asked VADA for confirmation.

• The ten countries that make up the Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (CONMEBOL) have announced that they will not take part in a biennial World Cup. ‘The project in question turns its back on almost 100 years of world football tradition, ignoring the history of one of the most important sporting events on the planet’, read a statement.

• The Russian Federation has been re-elected to the Presidium of the Eighth session of the Conference of the Parties to the International Convention against Doping in Sport, its Ministry of Sport announced. The Russian representative in the governing body of the Conference of the Parties will be the Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation, Oleg Matytsin (Олег Матыцин). “Russia’s victory in the elections to the Presidium of the session of the Conference of the Parties to the International Convention against Doping in Sport demonstrates the confidence of the world community”, said Dmitry Chernyshenko (Дмитрий Чернышенко), Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. “We have once again confirmed that we are honest in the fight against doping and adhere to a policy of zero tolerance towards it”.