• A weightlifter and a boxer have been sanctioned with four year bans, and two mixed martial arts fighters have been sanctioned with six month bans, Italy’s national anti-doping agency (NADO Italia) has announced. Weightlifter Ivana Romano has been sanctioned with a four year ban for evading a test; and boxer Serafino Paglioni has been sanctioned with a four year ban for an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) involving an unnamed prohibited substance. Mixed Martial Arts fighters Damiano Corsetti and Barbara Cariani were sanctioned with six month bans, after both were able to demonstrate no significant fault or negligence for an ADRV involving a specified substance.

• Dr. Mark Schmidt has confessed to doping athletes in multiple sports since 2012, reports InsideTheGames. The German doctor is at the centre of the Operation Aderlass blood doping trial, which began after cross country skier Johannes Dürr confessed to using blood transfusions, erythropoietin (EPO) and growth hormones. This led Austrian police to arrest nine people in a February 2019 raid in Seefeld, one of whom was caught red handed whilst receiving a blood transfusion. It is understood that over 30 athletes have been implicated via the investigation.

• Amy Tinkler has accused British Gymnastics of secretly dismissing her complaint against Head Coach Amanda Reddin in March, and not responding to her questions about when the complaint would be resolved, reports The Guardian. British Gymnastics said that it had not responded because a separate investigation was ongoing against Tinkler’s local South Durham gymnastics club, and it had wanted to give her the results at the same time.

#gymnastalliance @BritGymnastics pic.twitter.com/yclN4pVRhw

— Amy Tinkler OLY (@amytinkler2) September 28, 2020

#gymnastalliance @BritGymnastics pic.twitter.com/hvVdftxn76

— Amy Tinkler OLY (@amytinkler2) September 17, 2020

• The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has invited anti-doping stakeholders to the seventh International Conference on Novel Psychoactive Substances, which is taking place virtually on 19/20 November. Stakeholders who are interested in attending must register on the conference website by 18 November 2020.