theirishtimes--2019-01-27--Four people involved in very serious single-vehicle crash

Four people involved in ‘very serious’ single-vehicle crash

Emergency services are at the scene of what is understood to be a “very serious” crash in West Donegal.  The road incident is understood to have involved a single vehicle which was carrying four people.  Initial reports suggested a number of people may have been killed in the crash that happened just before 9pm, close to the Meenaclady area of Gortahork.  A Garda spokesman said the crash was “very serious” according to reports, and that there were four people in the car.  Ambulance and fire-service crew with cutting equipment were on the scene by 9.30pm, with at least two people trapped inside the vehicle.  The incident comes at the end of a week in which five people had already lost their lives on Irish roads – a toll described by the Road Safety Authority as “an appalling loss of life”.  On Friday two people were killed, while three had died on Thursday.  Shortly after 6pm on Friday, a man and a woman in their 70s died after their car left the road in Co Monaghan and ended up in a bog.  The single car crash occurred near the Monaghan and Armagh border at Killyneil Cross.  On Thursday, at about 6.50pm, a male pedestrian in his 40s died after he was struck by a 4x4 vehicle on the Dublin Road in Monasterevin in Co Kildare. He was treated at the scene but was pronounced dead a short time later.  Jackie Griffin from Tallaght was killed in a fatal collision with a truck at about 11.30am on the M50 in Dublin on Thursday morning.  Also on Thursday, an 80-year-old woman was killed in a collision between two vehicles at Kilrickle, Loughrea, Co Galway at about 9am.


theirishtimes--2019-04-08--Man in 20s dies after his car hits wall in Co Waterford

A man in his 20s was fatally injured in a single-vehicle road incident in Co Waterford this evening.  Gardaí in Tramore are investigating the incident, which occurred near O’Keeffe’s Cross, Dunhill, at about 6pm.  The driver was fatally injured when his car, of which he was the sole occupant, hit a wall. He was pronounced dead at the scene and his body has been removed to University Hospital Waterford.  The road was closed but has since reopened.  Gardaí wish to appeal for witnesses to contact Tramore Garda station on 051-391620, the Garda Confidential Telephone Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.

disaster, accident and emergency incident


themanchestereveningnews--2019-06-02--Two stabbings near Crumpsall Park overnight in separate incidents just 200 metres apart

Three men have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a man was stabbed in his own home in Crumpsall .  A man in his 40s was injured in a 'terrifying attack' at a property on Lansdowne Road shortly before 11.20pm on Saturday (June 1).  He was taken to hospital with serious injuries. Police described his condition today as serious but stable.  A forensic tent was also placed on Westbury Road, around 200 metres away, after an unrelated stabbing in the early hours of Sunday.  Following that incident, a man in his 30s attended hospital suffering 'serious' stab wounds at around 6.40am. His condition is also described as stable.  The two incidents are not being linked, a GMP spokesman said.  Part of Lansdowne Road near its junction with Brookfield Road was sealed off by police for several hours on Sunday.  Nearby, officers were also seen guarding a forensic tent outside a property on Westbury Road next to Crumpsall  Park.  The road was cordoned off, and the gate to the park was also shut.  A second, smaller blue tent was also seen in the middle of Westbury Road.  Three men aged 29, 39 and 43, have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in connection with the Lansdowne Road incident.  They remain in custody for questioning, police said.  Detective Inspector Claire Moss, of GMP’s City of Manchester Division, said: “This was a terrifying attack on a man in his own home, and we are working to piece together the full circumstances of what happened.  “Although we are currently treating this as an isolated incident, I appreciate there will be some concern in the local community and I would encourage anyone with worries or questions to approach officers who will be in the area carrying out enquiries.  “We have three men in custody, but the investigation does not stop here, and I would appeal to anyone out there with information to get in touch with police as soon as you can.”  Anyone with information should contact police on 0161 856 1146 or 101 quoting reference number 2673 of 01/06/19 or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.  No-one has yet been arrested in connection with the Westbury Road incident.  A GMP spokesman said: "Around 6.40am on Sunday 2 June 2019, police were called to reports that a man in his 30s had presented at hospital with stab wounds.  "He remains in hospital where his condition is described as serious but stable. A scene is in place on Westbury Road, Crumpsall.  "No arrests have been made and enquiries are ongoing.  "Anyone with information should contact police on 0161 856 1146 or 101 quoting reference number 678 of 02/06/19 or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111."


themanchestereveningnews--2019-10-16--Double stabbing in the street minutes after boy knifed on the 142 bus - woman and teenager arrested

Double stabbing in the street minutes after boy knifed on the 142 bus - woman and teenager arrested following violent attacks a mile apart

Three people were stabbed in Manchester minutes apart, within a mile yesterday (Tuesday).  A 17-year-old boy was knifed on the 142 Magic Bus on Rusholme's Curry Mile at around 4pm.  Police have now revealed that three teenagers, possibly men, boarded the bus on Wilmslow Road before the victim - who was sat alone on the top desk - was attacked.  He was rushed to hospital with two stab wounds to his thighs.  GMP said the gang of three got off the bus before running towards Claremont Road.  A 16-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of assault. He remains in custody for questioning.  They say the three males who got on the bus were Asian and between 15 and 20-years-old.  One was wearing a grey camouflage jacket and was carrying a black rucksack. Another was wearing a balaclava, a black bubble-type jacket and grey tracksuit bottoms.  Police described the incident was 'isolated'.  Officers are also investigating a double stabbing on nearby Meldon Road, in Longsight, minutes later.  A 17-year-old boy and a 20-year-old man were hurt. Their injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.  A 28-year-old woman was detained on suspicion of section 18 assault.  Shocked witnesses said they saw a man with blood pouring from his back in the street.  Images of a woman with red-stained hands appeared on Facebook.  Officers carrying Tasers could be seen racing to the scene.  Speaking about the Rusholme incident, Detective Inspector Mark Astbury, of GMP’s City of Manchester Division, said: “This was a terrifying incident – not only for the victim but for those who witnessed it on the bus.  “Thankfully the injuries sustained were not life threatening but it has left the boy understandably shaken.  “While we have made one arrest, we continue to appeal for information.  “This occurred at a busy time of day one of the city’s main roads. We are confident that a number of people will have seen this occur or captured footage on their dashcams.  “If you were on the bus at the time or have any footage or information that can assist us, please get in touch as soon as possible.”  Anyone with information about the Wilmslow Road incident is asked to call police on 0161 856 4409, quoting incident number 2050 of 15/10/19.  Information can also be passed to Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.


therussophileorg--2019-08-04--Ship Of Fools Britain America The Iranian Oil-Tanker Incidents

Ship Of Fools: Britain, America, & The Iranian Oil-Tanker Incidents

This  [post](https://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/Z6E6_NPGn0Q/ship- fools-britain-america-iranian-oil-tanker-incidents)  was originally published on  [this site](https://feeds.feedburner.com/zerohedge/feed)  [ _Authored by T.J.Coles via Counterpunch.org,_](https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/08/02/ship-of-fools- britain-america-and-the-iranian-oil-tanker-incidents/)  **Taking over from Britain’s colonial role in exploiting the country, the US has bullied and tried to intimidate Iran for decades.** The ongoing pretext for strangling Iran economically is that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency repeatedly finds [no evidence](https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/focus/iran/iaea-and-iran-iaea- reports) for this repeated US-led lie. Then-US President Barack Obama’s Task Force explained the real, as opposed to rhetorical, reasons for US opposition to Iran’s development of enriched uranium for its civilian nuclear energy programme, to which Iran is [entitled](https://www.un.org/disarmament/wmd/nuclear/npt/text) under Article IV of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty–a treaty regularly [violated](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/07488009408409180) by the UK and US, and to which their ally Israel is not party, despite having undeclared nuclear weapons. The Obama-era Task Force [report](https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/uploads/Documents/pubs/PTF- Iran.pdf) reads:  > “So long as the United States firmly opposed Iran’s [civilian nuclear] Bushehr facility, no friendly Arab state actively pursued civil nuclear power. But once Washington accepted that Iran could have a nuclear power plant, the United States was in no position to press its friends not to pursue a capability it had agreed Iran could have … [I]f an agreement is reached legitimizing even limited enrichment on Iranian soil, other countries may well be interested in having the same capabilities, and it could be difficult diplomatically to dissuade them from this pursuit … Demonstrating how seriously the international community is concerned about Iran’s actions might discourage imitators.”  **A media serving the interests of the public, not US foreign policy elites, would make this reminder–that Iran is being abused by the US to deter regional states from moving away from fossil-fuel dependence–regular headline news.** Others want all-out war. Veteran reporter Seymour Hersh revealed a plan by then-US Vice President (some say real President), Dick Cheney, to stage a fake maritime incident between “Iranian” (disguised US vessels in reality) and US warships. Hersh [says:](https://thinkprogress.org/exclusive-to-provoke-war- cheney-considered-proposal-to-dress-up-navy-seals-as-iranians-and-shoot-at- dfde0aaa2c4c/)  > “There was a dozen ideas proffered about how to trigger a war. The one that interested me the most was why don’t we build — we in our shipyard — build four or five boats that look like Iranian PT boats. Put Navy seals on them with a lot of arms. And next time one of our boats goes to the Straits of Hormuz, start a shoot-up.”  More recently, similar incidents appear to have occurred.  ### _SANCTIONS: “MAKE THE PAIN MUCH GREATER”_  In 2012, Britain joined the US’s imposition of economic sanctions on Iran. Then-UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon [described](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-sanctions-un/u-n-chief- says-sanctions-on-iran-affecting-its-people-idUSBRE89412Z20121005) “significant effects on the general population, including an escalation in inflation, a rise in commodities and energy costs, an increase in the rate of unemployment and a shortage of necessary items, including medicine.” Britain’s then-Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond, [informed](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/07/uk-warns-iran-more- sanctions) the Iranians: “We can definitely make the pain much greater.” (Hammond is now working as a Member of Parliament to block Britain’s no-deal exit from the European Union, ironically in fear of food and medicine shortages. Fine for Iranians to suffer, but not us, thank you very much.)  The so-called “nuclear deal” praised by “liberal” Western media was, in reality, a disaster for Iran, which the government signed with an economic noose around its neck. In 2015, Iran and the EU (including Britain) signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The United Nations Security Council, meaning in theory the US, too, adopted the JCPOA as UNSCR 2231. Iran agreed to limit its civilian nuclear energy programme and allow enhanced inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which as noted fails to find any convincing evidence of an Iranian WMD programme. The “agreement” [states](https://www.europarl.europa.eu/cmsdata/122460/full-text-of-the-iran- nuclear-deal.pdf) that “[t]he JCPOA will produce the comprehensive lifting of all UN Security Council sanctions as well as multilateral and national sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear programme, including steps on access in areas of trade, technology, finance, and energy.”  But the US immediately violated the spirit of the JCPOA. The Congressional Research Service [states](https://fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RS20871.pdf) that despite Obama’s lifting of “relevant sanctions,” whatever that means, the reality is that sanctions remained in place and thus in violation of the spirit if not letter of the JCPOA. “Remaining in place were a general ban on U.S. trade with Iran and sanctions on Iran’s support for regional governments and armed factions, its human rights abuses, its efforts to acquire missile and advanced conventional weapons capabilities, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.”  In May 2018, US President Trump [signed](https://fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/R43311.pdf) a National Security Presidential Memorandum, “ceasing” US “participation in the JCPOA.”  ### _FISHY HAPPENINGS AT SEA_  In May of this year, Ret. Special Agent in Customs, Karl Golovin, asked the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair, Gen. Dunford, about “the potential for false flag terrorism, leading us into war with Iran.” Unusually, Gen. Dunford [responded:](https://www.brookings.edu/wp- content/uploads/2019/05/fp_20190529_dunford_transcript.pdf)  > “Yeah, look, I’m not going to answer the question directly. I don’t know what others want, but I’ll just tell you this, I am very familiar with the consequences of going to war and take the responsibility of providing military advice in that regard very seriously … Are there people who might like to get the United States to do something? Certainly you can see that even in the open source where that speculation is out there. But I can guarantee you, that’s not going to inform the military advice…”  The British House of Commons Library [reports](http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8597/CBP-8597.pdf) that the US sent an aircraft carrier to the Gulf, citing alleged Iranian escalations of proxy activities in the region. But it adds: “A deputy commander of the Iraq-based coalition fighting ISIS/Daesh, a British Major General, appeared to contradict that on 14 May: ‘There are a substantial number of militia groups in Iraq and Syria, and we don’t see any increased threat from any of them at this stage’.”  On 12 May, Iran was blamed by the US for sabotaging four oil tankers: two of which were Saudi (an enemy of Iran), one Norwegian (neutral), and one from the United Arab Emirates (a Western ally). Despite claims that Iran was to blame, the United Arab Emirates’ inquiry submitted to the UN Security Council did not mention Iran. In June, Iran was blamed by the US for attacking two tankers, _Front Altair_  and  _Kokuka Courageous_ , providing fuzzy video to support its case. But when asked for specific evidence, the UK’s Minister for the Middle East, [replied:](http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8597/CBP-8597.pdf) “we are as sure as we can be.”  On 4 July, thirty British Royal Marines were [alleged](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/20/britain-lured-into- deadly-trap-on-iran-by-trump-hawk-john-bolton) to have commandeered, in Gibraltarian waters, the Iranian-operated tanker,  _Grace I_ , supposedly to stop its “unlawful” delivery of oil to Syria. Iran argues, plausibly, that this was a violation of international law because the EU sanctions against Syria do not apply to non-EU states. Britain argues that Iran was using Gibraltarian waters to break the law. But this misses the point: What legal or moral right does the US or EU or Gibraltar have to dictate the nature of Iran’s oil sales?  [](https://www.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline- images/2019-08-03_14-37-20.jpg?itok=djj86ogK)  The Royal Marines [allegedly](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49162256) made the civilian crew kneel on the deck whilst pointing guns at them. The captain says: “They didn’t care whether I was master… there was no regulations (sic)… we had 28 unarmed crew. I was in a state of shock, everybody was in a state of shock.  **How do you come on a ship like this with armed forces and such brute force. For what reason?” (BBC’s ellipses). The British Ministry of Defence describes this brutality as “standard operating procedure.”**  The maritime law firm Tatham & Co. [writes:](https://tathamlaw.com/knowledge /boarding-of-the-grace-1-exposes-british-tankers-to-action-by-iran/)  > “Perhaps what is most interesting about this seizure is that it was carried out pursuant to the ‘Sanctions Regulations 2019’ enacted by Gibraltar on 3 July, just one day before the seizure. Those Regulations give the Chief Minister of Gibraltar powers to designate a vessel as a ‘Specified Ship’ if he ‘has reasonable grounds to suspect that the ship … has been, or is likely to be, involved in a breach of the EU Regulation’. The EU Regulation in question is Regulation (EU) No. 36/2012 and a ‘Specified Ship Notice’ was issued in Gibraltar on 3 July 2019 naming the  _Grace 1_.”  _The Observer_ ’s Simon Tisdall [cites](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/20/britain-lured-into- deadly-trap-on-iran-by-trump-hawk-john-bolton) “evidence” that US National Security Advisor John Bolton’s “national security team was directly involved in manufacturing the Gibraltar incident … when US spy satellites, tasked with helping block Iranian oil exports in line with Trump’s global embargo, began to track Grace I on its way, allegedly, to Syria, Bolton saw an opportunity.” In addition to remember Dick Cheney’s scheme from more than a decade ago, it should also be remembered that Bolton wrote a book about Iran and US-led geopolitics in general, entitled  _Surrender Is Not An Option_. Spain does not formally recognize Britain’s territorial claims over Gibraltar. Why didn’t the Spanish intervene in this allegedly unlawful Iranian move? Because the US, presumably as part of the “trap,” already tipped off British intelligence (read: instructed them to seize the vessel).  **In revenge, the Iranians seized two ships: the British-registered, Swedish- owned _Stena Impero_  and the British-operated  _Mesdar_.**  ### _IN CONCLUSION_  **Britain has pirated and plundered Iran for well-over a century, most notably by stealing its oil via the virtual monopoly, Anglo-Persian (now BP).** The US worked with Britain in 1953 to overthrow the Mossadeq government. They imposed the blood-thirsty Shah on the people of Iran and never forgave the Iranians for shaking off their shackles in the Islamic Revolution 1979. In addition to arming Iran’s enemy-next-door, Saddam Hussein, during the brutal war (1980-89), the US, Britain and Israel have engaged in subversion activities, including murder and sabotage. **The recent seizure of the Iranian tanker is a continuation of imperial policy.**  from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/Z6E6_NPGn0Q/ship-fools- britain-america-iranian-oil-tanker-incidents


thetelegraph--2019-10-05--Family may sue US officials after suspect in fatal crash claims immunity

Family 'may sue US officials' after suspect in fatal crash claims immunity

The family of a teenager who was killed in a crash with a US diplomat's wife who has since left the UK are considering suing US government officials, their spokesman has said.  Harry Dunn died in a fatal road incident near RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire on August 27.  The 19-year-old was riding his motorcycle when a woman emerged from the airbase on the wrong side of the road and there was a head-on collision.  Northamptonshire Police met with the 42-year-old suspect, who is the wife of a US diplomat and who reportedly claimed diplomatic immunity.  She has since fled the country after she was told to leave the UK by US embassy officials.


birminghammail--2019-12-06--Dillian Whyte cleared of doping 24 hours before fight on Anthony Joshua vs Andy Ruiz undercard

Dillian Whyte has been cleared of doping by the UK Anti-Doping body.  The heavyweight, who previously fought Anthony Joshua, maintained his innocence earlier this year.  Whyte's career was thrown into doubt amid claims of an "adverse finding".  The finding related to his points win over Oscar Rivas in July.  But UKAD have now completely ruled out any wrongdoing by the 31-year-old.  UK Anti-Doping has announced the charge has been withdrawn as the levels in his sample were "very low".  The body says the presence of a steroid was "not caused by any fault, negligence or wrongdoing" on Whyte's part.  A statement from UKAD read: "UK Anti-Doping and the professional boxer, Dillian Whyte, can today jointly confirm that Mr Whyte was charged with an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) earlier this year, but that this charge has now been withdrawn.      "The charge was brought after a sample provided by Mr Whyte on 20 June 2019 indicated the presence of two metabolites of a steroid. UKAD initiated an investigation with which Mr Whyte cooperated fully. UKAD has accepted the explanation provided by Mr Whyte and, in accordance with the UK Anti-Doping Rules, the charge against Mr Whyte has been withdrawn."  Whyte wrote on Twitter: "For those who believed in me I won't forget you. To those who didn't, I won't forgive you and I know who you are."  Whyte fights Mariusz Wach on the undercard of Anthony Joshua's rematch against Andy Ruiz Jr tomorrow.


breitbart--2019-10-06--Nike CEO’s Involvement in Doping Scandal Raises Concern

NEW YORK (AP) — Nike CEO Mark Parker’s involvement in a doping scandal that brought down renowned track coach Alberto Salazar raises questions about whether the company _ or Parker _ will face any repercussions.  Salazar and a doctor received a four-year ban from the sport from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for possessing and trafficking testosterone while training top runners at the Nike Oregon Project, an elite training program bankrolled by the company. Salazar is appealing the decision.  Documents released by the USADA show Parker was aware of experiments that the coach and doctor conducted on employees and athletes, and even Salazar’s own sons, to test how supplements and medicine could enhance performance without breaking anti-doping rules. Parker said he never had any reason to believe the tests violated doping rules.  Here are some questions and answers about the controversy and the possible implications for Nike, the world’s largest sports apparel company.  Parker was briefed on Salazar’s experiments, according to emails referenced in reports released by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. Dr. Jeffrey Brown, an endocrinologist who worked with the Nike Oregon Project, updated Parker on an experiment Salazar was conducting on his sons with testosterone gel. Parker showed keen interest in his response.  “It will be interesting to determine the minimal amount of topical male hormone required to create a positive test,” Parker wrote.  Parker was included in other email exchanges between Salazar and Brown about the experiments.  Nike has vehemently defended both Salazar and Parker. The company has emphasized that none of the athletes in the Oregon Nike Project has tested positive for drugs. It has noted that the arbitration panel found Salazar never intended to violate doping rules, instead taking pains to comply with the world anti-doping code. The panel said Salazar made “unintentional mistakes.”  In an open letter to Nike employees, Parker said the tests on Salazar’s sons were not done to figure out how to cheat but were part of a plan to prevent potential sabotage against Salazar’s runners. Parker said that he wanted to understand what was going on.  “Nike did not participate in any effort to systematically dope any runners ever; the very idea makes me sick,” Parker wrote.  WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NIKE AND SALAZAR?  It’s no secret that Salazar is close with Nike’s executives. There is even building in Nike’s headquarters named after him. The star coach teamed up with Tom Clarke, currently president of Nike Innovation, to launch the Nike Oregon Project in 2001, conceiving of the idea as the pair bemoaned the state of American distance running over lunch one day. Nike writes the contracts and pays the athletes in the training program, which is located at the Nike campus in Beaverton, Oregon. The program has been massively successful, its athletes winning several events at the world track and field championships this week. Nike’s identity is rooted in track and field. Company founders Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman were both track guys: Bowerman as a coach and Knight as an athlete at the University of Oregon. Parker, for his part, was a competitive runner at Penn State University, and his passion for the sport is well-known. WHAT IS NIKE’S TYPICAL INVOLVEMENT WITH SPONSORED ATHLETES? It’s to be expected that Nike would stay on top of the health and training of its sponsored athletes, who promote its products in exchange for training funding, free shoes or other equipment, said Bob Dorfman, a sports marketing analyst and creative director at Baker Street Advertising. Sponsorship contracts are often tied to an athlete’s performance. “Athletes and their agents have tight relationships with their shoe companies, their equipment companies,” Dorfman said. “The sponsorship dollars hinge 100% on their performances, so I would think, yes, there would be a considerable amount of informational trade-off between athletic coaches and their sponsors and agents.” Still, it’s “a little weird” for Nike’s chief executive to be so intimately involved, particularly since the discussion involved performance-enhancing drugs, Dorfman said. “It’s surprising that it would get that high up.” HOW DOES THIS CONTROVERSY COMPARE TO PREVIOUS ONES INVOLVING NIKE? Nike has a long history of sticking by athletes engulfed in controversy, from Tiger Woods to Colin Kaepernick, but the company has generally been able to distance itself when necessary. Most prominently, Nike dropped Lance Armstrong in 2012 after the cyclist admitted to using banned drugs. The company discontinued products for his Livestrong cancer charity and erased his name from its fitness center in the Beaverton campus. Nike, which had defended Armstrong for years, said the company had been “misled” for a more than a decade. That claim would be harder to make in the Salazar case given Parker’s knowledge of what was going on. “It has to be, deny, deny, deny, at this point, or they run the risk of incriminating themselves,” Dorfman said. Other controversies related to internal corporate culture and governance have plagued Nike. Allegations of misconduct and gender discrimination led to a leadership shakeup at the company in 2018. Earlier this spring, Nike announced changes to its contract policies after the New York Times published opinion articles and videos from female runners saying they risked losing pay if they became pregnant. There are few signs so far that the controversy has resonated much among shoppers or investors. Shares of Nike closed at a high of $92.28 Tuesday as news emerged about Parker’s emails emerged, and the price has barely budged since, closing at $92.22 Thursday. Nike stock is up about 16% since the start of the year. Past scandals have had little effect on Nike’s sales, which have only surged after the brand put former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick at the center of its “Just Do It” ad campaign. A doping scandal is different. But with Nike’s intentions open for debate, it may not resonate “unless it becomes a chronic problem in the eyes of consumers,” said David Carter, a professor of sports business at the University of Southern California. “We haven’t seen that.” WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO PARKER? That remains to be seen, but Parker’s direct involvement could make it difficult for Nike’s board of directors to ignore, said Erik Gordon, a law and business professor at the University of Michigan. “It’s a big deal, and it’s something that needs to be discussed at the board level,” he said. “The first step is asking the CEO, ‘tell us everything. We don’t want to learn about anything else from the press.’” Nike has seen ups and downs under Parker, who joined the company in 1979 as a footwear designer and has been CEO since 2006. In 2017, he took a 70% compensation cut after a rough year for U.S. sales and the company’s stock price. Nike has since recovered, with first quarter earnings last month soaring past expectations.


eveningstandard--2019-04-11--Sebastian Coe is cleared of misleading Parliament during doping inquiry

Sebastian Coe has been cleared of misleading Parliament in their inquiry into combating doping in sport.  An investigation was launched by the IAAF’s ethics board after Coe — the president of world athletics’ governing body — was accused by the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee of being “misleading” with regards to Russian doping and the bribery case of Liliya Shobukhova.  The accusation related to evidence given in Westminster by Coe (right)  in December 2015 and subsequent testimony by former London Marathon race director Dave Bedford in January 2017. It centred on an email sent to Coe by Bedford in August 2014 with attachments detailing the allegations of the bribery around Shobukhova.  Coe claimed the email  had been read to him by a  personal assistant and he had forwarded it onto Michael Beloff, chair of the IAAF ethics board, without ever reading the relevant attachments.  The Parliamentary committee, however, said “it stretched credibility to believe” that Coe was not aware “at least in general terms” of allegations the ethics commission had been asked to investigate.  As a result of the Parliamentary hearings, the IAAF ethics board investigation was opened last September. It found Coe had acted “appropriately” at Westminster and in his handling of the Shobukhova allegations.  The investigation said it had tried to ascertain whether Lord Coe was aware of the detail of the allegations to the Shobukhova affair and concluded “there was no evidence to suggest that that was the case”.


eveningstandard--2019-11-04--WADA to investigate Alberto Salazar athletes following four-year doping ban

The World Anti-Doping Agency will investigate all athletes coached by Alberto Salazar following his four-year ban for doping offences.  The American coach is planning to appeal against the suspension from the US Anti-Doping Agency, which paved the way for his Nike Oregon Project being shut down.  And WADA president Sir Craig Reedie has said that athletes such as Mo Farah, who worked with Salazar from 2011 to 2017, and other high-profile names associated with the coach would be investigated in the coming months. “The clear question is did any of the allegations concerning Salazar and his operations result in athletes cheating themselves, which might have influenced their performance and might have involved the winning of competitions,” Reedie told BBC Sport. “We need to look at that and we will.”  Salazar was banned last month during the World Athletics Championships in Doha, along with Dr Jeffrey Brown, who treated many of his athletes. The pair were found to have possessed and trafficked banned substances while an independent panel ruling also found that Salazar had “tampered and/or attempted to tamper with the doping control process”.  The two had originally been charged with the offences in June 2017 but, following lengthy legal wrangling, an official ruling was not made until more than two years later.  Farah has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing while working with the coach. He said: “As I’ve always said, I have no tolerance for anyone who breaks the rules or crosses a line.”


eveningstandard--2019-11-13--Shane Sutton deciding whether to return to medical tribunal after storming out over doping allegatio

Shane Sutton deciding whether to return to medical tribunal after storming out over doping allegations

Shane Sutton was this morning mulling over whether to return to reappear before a medical tribunal, following an explosive day in which British Cycling’s former technical director stormed out under questioning.  Sutton was set to let officials at the hearing into former British Cycling and Team Sky doctor Richard Freeman know later today whether he would come back for further questioning or else return home to Spain, as he had threatened to do yesterday.  Meanwhile, the UK Anti-Doping Agency will continue to have one of their investigators on site for the duration of the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service case as they watch developments unfold.  But they refused to say whether they were likely to reopen an investigation into potential anti-doping violations or whether the investigation had already reopened.  The hearing was adjourned until tomorrow after Sutton accused Freeman, who faces being struck off as a doctor, of being drunk and failing to be on call during two rider emergencies. In addition, he branded the ex-team doctor “spineless” for having a screen erected between him and Sutton for the hearing.  At the centre of the case is an order of 30 sachets of the banned substance Testogel to British Cycling headquarters in 2011 with claims it was to treat Sutton for erectile dysfunction. Sutton denies that claim.  The General Medical Council, meanwhile, accuse Freeman of ordering the Testogel in order to microdose one of the riders, a claim Freeman denies.


eveningstandard--2019-12-09--Russia banned from Euro 2020 and World Cup 2022 after being hit with four-year doping punishment

Russia has been handed a four-year ban from all major sporting events by the World Anti-Doping Agency over its state-sponsored doping programme.  If the ban is upheld - and Russian authorities have 21 days to lodge an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport - it would mean no Russian team at next year’s Olympics as well as potentially their exclusion from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.  The decision was made unanimously by WADA’s executive committee at a meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, this morning following a lengthy investigation into doping practices which led all the way to the Kremlin.  WADA vice-president Linda Helleland said: “One of the world’s biggest sports nations have cheated, thereafter manipulated and deleted evidence after being found guilty of a betrayal to all the clean athletes around the world. Unless we impose sanctions that really wake Russian leaders up, hold them accountable and make them acknowledge the facts, how can we be sure the system will ever change?”  Russian athletes, though, will still be allowed to compete at international events if given clearance to do so as neutrals by their international federations although the use of a Russian flag, anthem and team name will be prohibited. In addition, Russia will not be permitted to host any major international sporting events for the next four years.  WADA had previously been accused of taking too soft an approach towards Russia after declaring the Russian anti-doping agency compliant back in September 2018 but it did so on the proviso it handed over the raw data from its Moscow anti-doping laboratory.  A year later after investigators spent months poring through that raw data when it was eventually handed over, WADA revealed there was evidence the data had been tampered with by Russian officials.  And in the ongoing fall-out from arguably the biggest doping scandal in sport, Russia has been hit with the harshest sanction available to WADA.  The punishment, however, does not branch every sporting event, and a Russian team will be cleared to play at Euro 2020, an event in which St Petersburg is among the host cities, as governing body Uefa is not deemed a “major event organisation” and has does not fall under the same anti-doping regulations.


france24--2019-12-10--Russia calls Olympics ban over doping 'politically motivated'

The World Anti-Doping Agency on Monday banned Russia for four years from major global sporting events including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar over manipulated doping data, prompting an angry response from President Vladimir Putin.  WADA's executive committee, meeting in Lausanne, handed Russia the "robust" four-year suspension after accusing Moscow of falsifying data from a doping testing laboratory that was handed over to investigators earlier this year.  The toughest ever sanctions imposed on Russian state authorities will see government officials barred from attending any major events, while the country will lose the right to host or bid for tournaments.  "For too long, Russian doping has detracted from clean sport," WADA president Craig Reedie said.  "Russia was afforded every opportunity to get its house in order and rejoin the global anti-doping community for the good of its athletes and of the integrity of sport, but it chose instead to continue in its stance of deception and denial."  Under the sanctions, Russian sportsmen and women will still be allowed to compete at the Olympics next year and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, but only as neutrals and if they can demonstrate that they were not part of what WADA believes was a state-sponsored system of doping.  Russia will still be allowed to compete in qualifiers for the 2022 football World Cup, but WADA director general Olivier Niggli added that should they progress to the finals in Qatar, "the team there will not be representing the Russian federation".  Russia's participation in Euro 2020 -- and Saint Petersburg's hosting of four matches -- is not affected by the ban because it is not defined as a "major event" for anti-doping purposes.  Speaking in Paris, Putin slammed the decision as a "politically motivated" ruling that "contradicted" the Olympic Charter.  "There is nothing to reproach the Russian Olympic Committee for and if there is no reproach towards this committee, the country should take part in competitions under its own flag," Putin said.  Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev also said the ban was politically motivated. "This is the continuation of this anti-Russian hysteria that has already become chronic," Medvedev told domestic news agencies.  The significant extent of state-sponsored doping in Russia, notably between 2011 and 2015, was revealed in the independent report by sports lawyer Richard McLaren, released in 2016.  It led to the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) being suspended for nearly three years previously over revelations of a vast state-supported doping programme.  Full disclosure of data from the Moscow laboratory was a key condition of Russia's controversial reinstatement by WADA in September 2018.  RUSADA's supervisory board is set to meet on December 19 to take a decision on whether to appeal against the ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.  Yury Ganus, the head of RUSADA, told AFP Monday that his country had "no chance" of winning an appeal.  "There is no chance of winning this case in court," Ganus said.  "This is a tragedy," he added. "Clean athletes are seeing their rights limited."  Documents released Monday show WADA's Compliance Review Committee (CRC) believes "deletions and alterations" to Russia's doping data "materially prejudiced the ability to pursue cases against 145 of the 298 athletes" whose doping controls between 2011 and 2015 WADA thought to be suspicious.  About one third of the 145 athletes are still active, WADA chief of investigators Gunter Younger said Monday.  The WADA decision was widely predicted, with Reedie having made a presentation Saturday to the Olympic Summit, participants of which "strongly condemned those responsible for the manipulation of the data from the Moscow laboratory".  "It was agreed that this was an attack on sport and that these actions should lead to the toughest sanctions against those responsible," the IOC said, asking that the Russian authorities deliver the "fully authenticated raw data".  Positive doping tests contained in data leaked by a whistleblower in 2017 were missing from the laboratory data supplied in January 2019, which prompted a new inquiry.


jerusalempost--2019-12-09--WADA president laments 'almost never-ending' Russian doping saga

WADA's executive committee concluded Moscow had planted fake evidence and deleted files linked to positive doping tests in laboratory data that could have helped identify drug cheats.  "We are getting very close to the fifth anniversary of the ARD documentary," WADA President Craig Reedie told Reuters television, referring to a German television documentary which in December 2014 alleged doping was rife in Russian athletics and ed to WADA investigations.  "It has become almost never-ending and that is disappointing because they are a sport-minded country, they are hosts of sport, they compete in sport, and it has presented huge problems to sport over the last five years."  WADA's executive committee voted to reinstate Russia's Anti-Doping Agency RUSADA in September 2018, before it had fulfilled the requirements laid out in a “Roadmap to Compliance”, and was finally given access to the data stored at Moscow’s anti-doping laboratory in January.  "It is particularly irritating after having broken the deadlock and done it in an intelligent way," said Reedie.  "There are certain parts of the world which would want to sanction Russia for doing anything at any time ... there are other parts of the world which take an entirely different view," he said.


newyorkpost--2019-12-09--WADA bans Russia from Olympics over doping scandals

MOSCOW – Russia was banned from the Olympics and world championships in a range of sports for four years on Monday after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) ruled to punish it for manipulating laboratory data, a WADA spokesman said.  WADA’s executive committee took the decision after it concluded that Moscow had tampered with laboratory data by planting fake evidence and deleting files linked to positive doping tests that could have helped identify drug cheats.  The WADA committee’s decision to punish Russia with a ban was unanimous, the spokesman said.  Russia, which has tried to showcase itself as a global sports power, has been embroiled in doping scandals since a 2015 report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) found evidence of mass doping in Russian athletics.  Its doping woes have grown since, with many of its athletes sidelined from the past two Olympics and the country stripped of its flag altogether at last year’s Pyeongchang Winter Games as punishment for state-sponsored doping cover-ups at the 2014 Sochi Games.  Monday’s sanctions had been recommended by WADA’s compliance review committee in response to the doctored laboratory data provided by Moscow earlier this year.  One of the conditions for the reinstatement of Russian anti-doping agency RUSADA, which was suspended in 2015 in the wake of the athletics doping scandal but reinstated last year, had been that Moscow provide an authentic copy of the laboratory data.  The sanctions effectively strip the agency of its accreditation.  Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov last month attributed the discrepancies in the laboratory data to technical issues.  The punishment, however, leaves the door open for clean Russian athletes to compete at major international sporting events without their flag or anthem for four years, as was the case during the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.  Some Russian officials, meanwhile, have branded the call for sanctions unfair and likened it to broader Western attempts to hold back the country.  If RUSADA appeals the sanctions endorsed by WADA’s executive committee, the case will be referred to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), WADA has said.


rferl--2019-01-09--Kremlin Says Understanding Reached On Doping Data For WADA

Kremlin Says 'Understanding' Reached On Doping Data For WADA

The Kremlin says Russia and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) have reached an understanding on the handover of crucial data from the former Moscow anti-doping laboratory.      A WADA delegation has arrived in Moscow on January 9 for their third visit seeking the lab data.  The Moscow laboratory data could help WADA file doping charges against numerous Russian athletes.      Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said on January 9 that "as far as we know via our sports authorities, there are intensive contacts under way and now understanding has been reached with the WADA representatives regarding how the work will continue."      Russia missed a deadline to hand over the data by December 31, meaning its anti-doping agency, RUSADA, could face sanctions from WADA.      The failure also led to calls for the country to be suspended from global sporting competition.      During the earlier visit, Russian officials declined to turn over data, saying the WADA inspectors’ technical equipment was incompatible with Russia systems.      RUSADA, was stripped of its accreditation in 2015 after a WADA-commissioned report found evidence of state-sponsored doping in Russian track and field and other sports.      The report cast a shadow over the 2014 Sochi Olympics.      RUSADA was conditionally reinstated in September following a three-year suspension, a move that was widely criticized by members of the anti-doping movement.


rferl--2019-01-17--Russian Bobsledder Banned For Two Years For Doping Violations

The international organization overseeing bobsledding and skeleton said it had suspended two-time Olympic gold-medal winner Aleksandr Zubkov for two years for doping code violations at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.      The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation said in a statement on January 16 that Zubkov, who was already stripped of his Sochi medals by the International Olympic Committee, will be suspended until December 2020.      Zubkov, who is retired, is now president of the Russian Bobsleigh Federation, but the Russian Olympic Committee said it would seek to remove him from that post.      Zubkov told the RIA Novosti news agency that he would "study the documents" before deciding whether to appeal.      The issue of state-sponsored athlete doping in Sochi has continued to haunt Russian sports.      An inspection team from the World Anti-Doping Agency, known as WADA, is in Moscow this week collecting doping data from a laboratory that has been at the center of Russia's doping suspicions.      Russia was obligated to allow inspectors access to the Moscow lab and data as a condition of the agency's controversial decision in September to provisionally reinstate the Russian anti-doping agency, RUSADA.      But the effort has seen delays, and there were safety fears for the inspectors.      The inspection team is expected to submit a report to the WADA executive board once they leave Russia.


rferl--2019-01-17--WADA Says Its Recovered Doping Data From Moscow Lab

WADA Says It's Recovered Doping Data From Moscow Lab

Inspectors from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) have recovered doping data from a Moscow laboratory that has been at the center of Russia's doping suspicions, the agency said on January 17.  Russia was obligated to allow inspectors access to the Moscow lab and data as a condition of the agency's controversial decision in September to provisionally reinstate the Russian anti-doping agency, RUSADA.       "This is a major breakthrough for clean sport," said WADA President Craig Reedie in a statement. "It shows we are continuing to make real progress that simply would not have happened without the 20 September executive committee decision."  A WADA-commissioned report which outlined evidence of systematic, state-backed doping in Russian athletics led to RUSADA being suspended in 2015. Another report a year later documented more than 1,000 doping cases across dozens of sports, most notably at the Winter Olympics that Russia hosted in Sochi in 2014.  WADA is now due to analyze the data for any sign of tampering.  Russian authorities must ensure that the re-analysis of samples required by WADA is completed by June 30 in an accredited lab.


rferl--2019-01-18--Former Georgian Wrestler Stripped Of 2012 Olympic Silver Medal For Doping Violations

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has stripped Davit Modzmanashvili of the silver medal he won while competing for Georgia at the 2012 Olympic Games in London because of doping violations.  The IOC said in a statement on January 17 that a re-analysis of samples given during the Games by the 32-year-old, who has competed for Uzbekistan since 2017, tested positive for the banned substance chlorodehydromethyltestosterone aka Oral Turinabol.  "The athlete, Davit Modzmanashvili, has the medal obtained in the Men’s Freestyle Wrestling 120kg event withdrawn and is ordered to return it," the IOC said in the statement.  Within the framework of the re-analysis program, which is being implemented by the International Testing Agency, samples from London are being tested under new scientific methods that can detect substances that previous methods were not able to find.  Modzmanashvili was disqualified from the 120-kilogram freestyle class and faces being banned by the United World Wrestling governing body.  Modzmanashvili lost to Artur Taymazov of Uzbekistan in the 2012 gold medal bout.  Taymazov also won the title in 2008 in Beijing, but was later stripped of the gold medal for doping infractions.  The statute of limitations for retesting for the London Games is 2020, the IOC said.


rferl--2019-01-25--Russia Withdraws Appeal Against Doping Ban

Russia's athletics federation has said it will withdraw its appeal against its ban from international competition.  The federation said on January 25 that its withdrawal of the appeal was connected to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) decision this week not to suspend RUSADA, Russia's antidoping agency, despite Moscow missing a deadline to hand over laboratory data.  The federation had filed an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in September against a decision by the world governing body for track and field, the IAAF, to extend the ban that was imposed in November 2015 after a study commissioned by WADA found that the use of performance-enhancing drugs by athletes in Russia was systemic and state-sponsored.  To be reinstated, the IAAF has said Russia also must acknowledge the findings of that report -- including an admission that doping in Russia was state-sponsored.  Russia has accepted that doping has been widespread. But authorities in Moscow continue to deny any of it was state sponsored.  "I'm convinced that at the moment we need to focus efforts on negotiations with the IAAF regarding the reinstatement on issues which are under our control, and not waste time and strength on legal processes," Russian athletics federation President Dmitry Shlyakhtin said in a statement.  Despite the ban, several Russian athletes have been cleared to compete internationally as neutrals after demonstrating they are training in doping-free environments.


rferl--2019-02-08--Russias Paralympic Doping Suspension To Be Conditionally Lifted By Mid-March

Russia's Paralympic Doping Suspension To Be Conditionally Lifted By Mid-March

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has decided to conditionally lift Russia's suspension imposed over a doping scandal.  In its February 8 statement, the IPC said that the suspension will be lifted by March 15.  "Twenty-nine months later it is the IPC governing board's firm belief that keeping the RPC [Russian Paralympic Committee] suspended is no longer necessary and proportionate to the situation we now face in Russia," IPC President Andrew Parsons said in the statement.  The statement also said that the RPC had met 69 of 70 criteria required to have the suspension lifted.  Russian athletes were banned from the 2016 Paralympic games in Rio and were allowed to perform as neutrals at the Winter Paralympics in PyeongChang, in 2018, over allegations of a state-sponsored doping scheme at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.


rferl--2019-02-27--Kazakh Athlete Among Nine People Arrested In Doping Raids In Austria Germany

Kazakh Athlete Among Nine People Arrested In Doping Raids In Austria, Germany

Austrian police say they have conducted a series of arrests and raids along with police in Germany in a crackdown on an "internationally active doping network."  Austria's Federal Criminal Police Office said on February 27 that nine people were arrested in the raids, including one Kazakh, two Austrian, and two Estonian athletes.  A monthslong investigation into sports fraud and the use of illegal substances and methods centered on a criminal organization in Germany concerning a "sports doctor," according to a statement.  It said the Germany-based criminal organization was suspected of "conducting blood doping on athletes for years."  The doctor and an "accomplice" were arrested in Erfurt, Germany, while two members of the group and the five athletes were arrested in the Austrian resort of Seefeld, where the Nordic skiing world championships are currently underway.  Investigations were ongoing, the statement said.


rferl--2019-03-11--Athletics World Body Upholds Russia Ban Imposed Over Doping Scandal

Athletics' World Body Upholds Russia Ban Imposed Over Doping Scandal

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has decided to maintain a ban imposed on Russia's athletics federation more than three years ago over doping.      Rune Andersen, head of the doping task force for the world governing body for track and field, said on March 11 that two “outstanding issues” need to be resolved for Russia to be reinstated.      Speaking after a council meeting of top officials in Qatar, Andersen said that the ban will remain in place until analytical data and samples collected from Moscow's former anti-doping laboratory earlier this year are made available.      "Logistical" issues have also held up financial compensation, including for the task force's costs, he said.      Athletics' governing body banned Russia in November 2015 after a report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency outlined evidence of systematic, state-backed doping in Russian athletics.      Another report a year later documented more than 1,000 doping cases across dozens of sports, most notably at the Winter Olympics that Russia hosted in the Black Sea resort of Sochi in 2014.      Russian athletes have had to meet strict criteria such as undergoing regular doping tests outside Russia in order to be allowed to compete in international competitions as neutrals -- and not under their national flag.      Russian officials have acknowledged that doping has been widespread but denied that it had been state sponsored.


rferl--2019-07-24--Russia Claims It Will Be Competitive In 2020 Olympics Despite Doping Issues

Russia Claims It Will Be 'Competitive' In 2020 Olympics Despite Doping Issues

A year ahead of the opening of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Russia’s sports minister says his country will be "competitive" at the event despite the sports-doping issues that have disrupted the team in recent years.      "We're not thinking about lawsuits or arguments. We're preparing calmly," Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov told reporters on July 24.      "Roughly speaking, we understand we've already formed a pool of athletes who can compete for medals. I can say that we'll be competitive in 20 sports," he added.      The 2020 Tokyo Olympics run from July 24 to August 9.      Russian international athletic activities have been in disarray since a 2015 report by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) outlined evidence of systematic, state-backed doping in the country, which Russian government officials have denied.      Another report documented more than 1,000 doping cases across dozens of sports, most notably at the Winter Olympics that Russia hosted in Sochi in 2014.      Russia was banned from the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in connection with the doping scandal, but 168 of its athletes were allowed to compete as neutrals under the Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR) label.      Russia was readmitted by the International Olympic Committee after the Pyeongchang Games and restrictions on its roster will be eased somewhat next year.      The International Association of Athletics Federations has cleared dozens of Russians to compete internationally in track.  But the country will be allowed to send only one male and one female weightlifter to the Tokyo Games under new rules restricting quotas for countries with a history of doping in that sport.


rferl--2019-09-25--Tajikistans First-Ever Olympic Champion Nazarov Suspended Amid Doping Allegations

Tajikistan's First-Ever Olympic Champion Nazarov Suspended Amid Doping Allegations

DUSHANBE -- Tajikistan's first-ever Olympic champion, hammer thrower Dilshod Nazarov, has withdrawn from the world championships over a failed doping test.  The Athletics Integrity Unit, which oversees doping and other integrity issues in international athletics, said on its website that Nazarov was added to the list of doping suspects on September 24.  According to the site, Nazarov and other athletes on the list are "suspended temporarily...prior to a final decision at a hearing conducted under the IAAF [International Association of Athletic Federations] Anti-Doping Rules or the Integrity Code of Conduct."  The statement says that the move was triggered by a retesting of a sample from the 2011 IAAF World Championships, which indicated that Nazarov might have used the banned substance turinabol, adding that the case's status was "pending before a first instance National Tribunal."  The 37-year-old Nazarov earned the Central Asian country's first-ever Olympic gold medal, winning the men's hammer-throw event at the Rio Olympics in 2016.  Ahtam Abdullozoda, the chairman of Tajikistan's Committee for Youth Issues, Sports, and Tourism, refused to comment to RFE/RL on the situation, saying that he had yet to receive official documents on Nazarov's suspension.  Nazarov, who is currently in Qatar, where the world championships will take place on September 27-October 6, was not available for immediate comment.  Muhammadsho Abdulloev, chief of Tajikistan's National Anti-Doping Organization, said that Nazarov "successfully" passed all of the necessary tests after the 2016 Olympics.


rferl--2019-11-05--Russian Doping To Loom Large At WADA Summit

The World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) three-day conference on drugs in sport has opened in Poland, with the long-running Russian doping scandal overshadowing the proceedings.  On the opening day of the event in Katowice on November 5, outgoing WADA President Craig Reedie said the Russian scandal that erupted in 2015 was the biggest challenge the organization had faced in its 20-year existence.  Reedie said the level of cheating was "unprecedented," putting WADA under mounting pressure to work for all clean athletes as Russia's anti-doping agency, RUSADA, was declared noncompliant.  "What it taught us when it erupted was that we were not equipped to deal with such a large-scale [doping] program," he said.  Ahead of the conference, WADA's first president, Dick Pound, called for harsher treatment of athletes and countries who are found guilty of doping.  "Many sports now know that someone is looking over their shoulder," the 77-year-old Canadian told AFP.  WADA has documented more than 1,000 Russian doping cases across dozens of sports, most notably at the Winter Olympics that Russia hosted in Sochi in 2014.  The country was found guilty of a government-organized effort to mask samples from athletes using banned substances between 2011 and 2015.  Russia's Athletics Federation has been banned form international competition since 2015.  RUSADA was also suspended in 2015.  New revelations appeared in September when electronic data from the former Moscow laboratory was suspected of having been manipulated when it was handed to WADA investigators earlier in the year.  Consequently, Russia could face a ban from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.  The latest allegations are still being  investigated and no decision on Russia is expected in Katowice.  Witold Banka, who will formally be elected to replace Reedie later this week at WADA's board meeting, promised he would not tolerate cheating or manipulations.  "The new future of anti-doping starts today," Banka, a former sprinter who helped Poland win a bronze medal in the 4x400 meters relay at the 2007 World Championships, told the Katowice conference.  The president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, pledged $10 million to fight doping in sports, saying half of the money will go toward storing samples from pre-Olympic testing for 10 years while the rest will fund investigations and research.  Hundreds of doping samples from the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Games have been reanalyzed with improved methods, resulting in more than 120 positive tests.  With reporting by ESPN, dpa, AFP, Reuters, and AP


rferl--2019-11-29--Russia Says Proposed Four-Year Athletic Doping Ban 'Unfair,' 'Maybe Even A War'

Russia has lashed back at a proposed four-year ban on the country's athletes over noncompliance with anti-doping regulations, calling it a politically motivated act designed to prevent its athletes from competing.      "This is about the politicization of this issue in order to squeeze Russia out. There is a term for such a thing: unfair competition. This is a battle without rules, maybe even already a war," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on November 28.      "The issue of doping...focuses exclusively on Russia. The problems of other countries are not discussed at all," she added.      A key panel of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on November 25 recommended that Russia be hit with a four-year ban from sporting competition over noncompliance with the World Anti-Doping Code.      WADA’s Compliance Review Committee accused Russia of falsifying laboratory data provided to investigators as part of a probe into the doping allegations that have plagued Russia since the revelation of large-scale, state-sponsored doping aimed at improving its medal performance at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.      Russian track-and-field athletes were banned from competing at the Rio Olympics in 2016, although those participating in other events were allowed to participate.      The ban was extended to all events at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. However, Russians who could prove they were clean from doping violations were allowed to compete as neutrals under the Olympic flag.      The WADA panel said the final decision will rest with its Executive Committee, which will consider the recommendation and the proposed consequences on December 9.      The chief of Russia's anti-doping agency, RUSADA, said on November 26 he expected the WADA Executive Committee to uphold the recommendation.      "That's the reality," Yury Ganus told the media. "We are plunging, for the next four years, into a new phase of Russia's doping crisis."      If the executive panel adopts the committee's recommendations at its Paris meeting, Russia faces exclusion from key sporting events, including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.      If a suspension is called for, Russia could challenge the ruling with the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport, whose decision will be binding on sports bodies, including the International Olympic Committee.  With reporting by AFP, Reuters, and TASS


rferl--2019-12-08--Russia Faces New Olympics Ban In Doping Saga

Russia is facing sweeping sanctions in connection with another doping-linked scandal when the executive committee of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) meets on December 9.  A WADA panel last month recommended to ban Russia from global competition for four years, including next year's Olympics in Tokyo, and other measures after "inconsistencies" were found in laboratory data provided to the agency.  Doping allegations have plagued the country since the revelation of large-scale state-sponsored doping aimed at improving its medal performance at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi.  In September 2018, WADA lifted the suspension of the Russian anti-doping agency RUSADA that had been in place for three years on condition that Russia hand over doping data and samples from 2012 to 2015.  But WADA’s Compliance Review Committee on November 25 accused Russia of falsifying some of the data provided by a Moscow laboratory in January, and proposed to impose a four-year ban on RUSADA and to exclude the country from major sporting competitions.  The final decision will rest with WADA’s executive committee when it gathers in Paris on December 9.  If the committee adopts the recommendations, Russia would be denied its flag and anthem at events including the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo and 2022 Winter Games in Beijing -- just as they were absent from the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and the past two track-and-field world championships.  Russian athletes could compete as neutrals under the Olympic flag if they are not linked to positive doping tests or the data corruption.  WADA could also impose a four-year ban on Russia hosting, bidding for, or being awarded major sporting events such as the 2032 Summer Olympics.  Sports bodies would then be required to move events that had already been awarded, except if “it is legally or practically impossible” to move them.  Other consequences could be banning Russian government representatives and other officials from attending major sporting events.  RUSADA will have 21 days to challenge WADA’s decisions with the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport.  Other interested parties could also appeal to the court in Lausanne, whose rulings will be binding on the International Olympic Committee and other sports bodies.  Russia has lashed back at the proposed sanctions, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov saying they amounted to one more Western effort to sideline Russia.  “There are those who want to put Russia in a defensive position accused of pretty much everything in every sphere of international life -- conflicts, economics, energy, gas pipelines, arms sales,” Lavrov has said.  However, RUSADA chief Yury Ganus has called the proposed punishments “justified.”  With reporting by dpa and AP


rferl--2019-12-19--Russia To Appeal Four-Year Doping Sanctions

Russia is set to contest a decision to ban the country from all major sporting events for four years over doping violations.      The Russian anti-doping agency RUSADA said on December 19 it had "made a decision not to agree" with the punishments imposed last week by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).      A letter to WADA will be prepared on behalf of the president "in the next 10-15 days,” it said, a move that will trigger the appeal process in the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport.      The WADA executive committee on December 9 made the unanimous decision to ban Russia’s athletes and officials from the Olympics, world championships, and other major events for four years.      The move came after WADA concluded that Moscow had manipulated laboratory data handed over to its investigators in January.      RUSADA had to hand over the data as a condition of its 2018 reinstatement following a three-year suspension after a large-scale over state-sponsored doping.      Speaking in Moscow on December 19 at his annual news conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin said WADA had acted unfairly.      “The overwhelming majority of our athletes are clean and then why must all of them suffer?” he asked.      The bans mean Russia's flag and anthem will not be allowed at events such as the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and soccer’s 2022 World Cup in Qatar.      Russian athletes who can prove they are untainted by the doping scandal will be able to compete as neutrals under the Olympic flag.  Based on reporting by the BBC and AFP


rferl--2019-12-26--Russian Couple Behind Doping Expose Reportedly Now Living In U.S. Suburb

The Russian couple that exposed the country's doping scandal is hiding out in a quiet American suburb, The New York Times reports.  Vitaly and Yulia Stepanov fled Russia for Germany in 2014 with their infant son days before the screening of a documentary in which they detailed Russia's state-sponsored doping program.  They have moved at least six times since then, ending up in an undisclosed U.S. suburb, the paper reported.  "We are just like any middle-class American family," Vitaly Stepanov told the newspaper in an interview.  Yulia Stepanova, a former top runner on Russia's national team, made secret recordings of coaches and athletes. Her work resulted in Russia's track-and-field team being banned from the 2016 Olympics.  Russian President Vladimir Putin called her "Judas," a name used to describe a traitor.  Yulia Stepanova is now training for the 2020 Olympics, though her husband said they didn't hold out much hope she will make it. Her time for the 800 meters was still four seconds slower than the standard for qualifying, he said.  Based on reporting by The New York Times


rferl--2019-12-27--Russia Officially Challenges WADA Doping Ban

Russia says it has lodged a formal protest to a decision by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to ban that country from major sporting events for four years over doping violations including the alleged faking of evidence.  Repeated irregularities and systematic cheating cost Russia a place in the 2018 Winter Olympics, and a finding earlier this month that Russia's anti-doping body was still noncompliant led to the fresh ban on Russia's participation in international events in nearly all major sports.  The bans mean Russia's flag and anthem will not be allowed at events such as the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and soccer's 2022 World Cup in Qatar.  "In accordance with established procedure, today we have sent a package of documents to WADA," Yury Ganus, the head of Russian's anti-doping agency, RUSADA, told reporters on December 27.  RUSADA had said on December 19 it had "made a decision not to agree" with the WADA punishments.  Russia's Investigative Committee concluded that all materials submitted to WADA this year regarding athletes' drug tests were genuine.  That represented an informal challenge to WADA's recent determination that the copy it received of a database from Russia's national drug-testing laboratory was intentionally altered.  Some data were "removed, others altered and, in some cases, system messages were fabricated in an effort to hamper the work of WADA investigators," the world doping watchdog had concluded.  The database, which includes Russian athletes' blood-test results and other information stored by the national anti-doping laboratory in Moscow, is at the center of the exposure of Russia's state-sponsored doping program.  WADA's finding was key to its December 9 decision to declare RUSADA noncompliant and to apply the four-year ban on Russian teams.  At his annual news conference on December 19, Russian President Vladimir Putin repeated his accusations that Russia was being treated unfairly and suggested that the country's athletes were the victims.  "The overwhelming majority of our athletes are clean, and then why must all of them suffer?" he said.  In some cases, as was the case during the 2018 Winter Olympics, individual Russians may be allowed to compete as neutral athletes after a series of tests administered by international bodies.  WADA concluded in 2016 that Russia had operated a "state-sponsored" doping program that included intelligence agency and other official involvement.  A disgraced former RUSADA head, Nikita Kamayev, died suddenly two months after resigning his post in late 2015.  The agency's founding chairman, Vyacheslav Sinev, had died two weeks earlier under unclear circumstances.  A Russian court in 2017 issued an arrest warrant for former RUSADA chief Grigory Rodchenkov, who claimed to have helped orchestrate the doping program before turning whistle-blower and fleeing for the United States.  With reporting by TASS and AFP


rferl--2019-12-28--WADA Vows 'Utmost Vigor' In Defense Against Russia Doping Appeal

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) says it will defend itself with “utmost vigor” after Russia lodged a formal protest over the agency’s decision to ban the country from major sporting events for four years over doping violations, including allegedly faking evidence.  The comments came after Yury Ganus, the head of Russian’s anti-doping agency, RUSADA, told reporters on December 27 that "in accordance with established procedure, today we have sent a package of documents to WADA" disputing the agency’s December 9 ruling that led to the fresh ban on Russia's participation in international events in nearly all major sports.  It also follows remarks on December 19 by Russian President Vladimir Putin that the country was being treated unfairly in the decision that, if the appeal fails, means that Russia's flag and anthem will not be allowed at events such as the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and soccer’s 2022 World Cup in Qatar.  WADA President Craig Reedie on December 27 immediately defended his agency's decision to bar Russia from international sporting events. Repeated irregularities and systematic cheating also cost Russia a place in the 2018 Winter Olympics.  WADA said that since the RUSADA notice was received within the required 21 days, the matter will be turned over to the independent Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).  “The proposed consequences are tough on the Russian authorities while robustly protecting the integrity of clean sport around the world. We will defend that decision with the utmost vigor at CAS," WADA said in a statement.  Prior to filing the official protest notice, RUSADA had said on December 19 that it had "made a decision not to agree" with the WADA punishments.  Russia's Investigative Committee said it concluded that all materials submitted to WADA this year regarding athletes' drug tests were genuine.  That represented an informal challenge to WADA's determination that the copy it received of a database from Russia's national drug-testing laboratory was intentionally altered.  Some data was "removed, others altered and, in some cases, system messages were fabricated in an effort to hamper the work of WADA investigators," the world doping watchdog had concluded.  The database, which includes Russian athletes' blood-test results and other information stored by the national anti-doping laboratory in Moscow, is at the center of the exposure of Russia's state-sponsored doping program.  WADA's finding was key to its December 9 decision to declare RUSADA noncompliant and to apply the four-year ban on Russian teams.  At his annual news conference on December 19, Putin repeated his accusations that Russia was being treated unfairly and suggested that the country's athletes were the victims.  “The overwhelming majority of our athletes are clean, and then why must all of them suffer?” he said.  In some cases, as was the case during the 2018 Winter Olympics, individual Russians may be allowed to compete as neutral athletes after a series of tests administered by international bodies. Because of the way the event organizer is classified, Russia will still be able to participate in the Euro 2020 soccer championship.  WADA concluded in 2016 that Russia had operated a "state-sponsored" doping program that included intelligence agency and other official involvement.  A disgraced former RUSADA head, Nikita Kamayev, died suddenly two months after resigning his post in late 2015.  The agency's founding chairman, Vyacheslav Sinev, had died two weeks earlier under unclear circumstances.  A Russian court in 2017 issued an arrest warrant for former RUSADA chief Grigory Rodchenkov, who claimed to have helped orchestrate the doping program before turning whistle-blower and fleeing for the United States.  With reporting by TASS, AFP, Reuters, and Time


slate--2019-10-01--A Nike Track Coach for Top Olympic Runners Has Been Given a Four-Year Doping Ban

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency handed down a four-year doping ban Monday night to controversial track coach Alberto Salazar. The 61-year-old is head of the Nike Oregon Project, a training program launched to boost the performance of American distance runners, and has had a number of the world’s top runners under his tutelage, including four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah of Britain and America’s top marathon runner, Galen Rupp. Salazar, who has said he will appeal the ruling, was found to have “possessed and trafficked a banned performance-enhancing substance and administered or attempted to administer a prohibited method to multiple track and field athletes,” according to an independent arbitration panel. A doctor with the Nike Oregon Project, endocrinologist Jeffrey Brown, who operated as the personal physician for some of the program’s runners, was also given a four-year ban.  The USADA stressed that its ruling was the culmination of an extensive four-year investigation that included 30 witness interviews, about 2,000 exhibits, and nearly 5,800 pages of transcripts. During the investigation, a December 2011 email from Salazar to disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong was unearthed enthusing about a supplement called L-carnitine, which is believed to enhance athletic performance. The email read: “Lance, call me asap! We have tested it and it’s amazing! You are the only athlete I’m going to tell the actual numbers to other than Galen Rupp. It’s too incredible. All completely legal and natural.” Salazar was notified in 2017 that he had violated doping rules, but the high-profile coach contested the findings, setting off a two-year court battle. Ultimately, Salazar’s case went before an independent arbitration pnael last year, which imposed the ban.  The arbitration panel’s findings also indicated substantive links to Nike in facilitating athlete doping. “The panel’s summary further indicated that Brown had alerted Nike executives to some of his testosterone testing—specifically an experiment that involved Salazar’s sons using a cream and running on a treadmill for 20 minutes,” the Washington Post reports. “We are next going to determine the minimal amount of gel that would cause a problem,” banned physician Jeffrey Brown wrote the chief executive of Nike in 2009. A Nike spokesman distanced the company and the Oregon Project from the ruling. “Today’s decision had nothing to do with administering banned substances to any Oregon Project athlete,” the spokesman said in a statement. “As the panel noted, they were struck by the amount of care Alberto took to ensure he was complying with the World Anti-Doping Code.”  The ruling was handed down in the middle of the world track and field championships currently underway in Doha, Qatar, where Salazar’s presence is still felt. Over the weekend at the championships, one-time Salazar trainee, Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands, won the 10,000-meter women’s event. She also set a world record in July in the women’s mile.


sottnet--2019-02-27--Not Russians Five athletes arrested in doping raids at world ski championships

Not Russians?! Five athletes arrested in doping raids at world ski championships

Five athleteswere arrested on Wednesday in anti-doping raids at the Nordic skiing world championships in the Austrian resort of Seefeld, police said.The raids were part of a broader operation, the Austrian police said.A 40-year-old sports doctor is believed to be at the center of the organization, the police said in a statement, adding that he was also arrested in Germany on Wednesday.In totalin Seefeld and Germany, the Austrian police said, adding that the operation was coordinated with the German authorities. One of the athletes was caught in the act of doping, officials said.Munich's state prosecutor's office said the investigation was triggered by statements made by Austrian cross-country skier and doping offender Johannes Duerr to a German broadcaster earlier this year.Duerr, who was caught doping during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, had talked to German broadcaster ARD in January.Two of the athletes arrested in Seefeld are from Austria, two are Estonian and one is from Kazakhstan, the police said.Austrian media quoted an official from the country's skiing federation as saying the two Austrians arrested were cross-country skiers Max Hauke and Dominik Baldauf, both 26."Athletes have been caught using unauthorized methods or substances. Unfortunately, it shocks me, two of our athletes are among them. They have been taken into custody, Baldauf and Hauke," the federation's sporting director for cross-country skiing and biathlon, Markus Gandler, told the APA news agency.Reuters was not able to immediately contact the federation for comment.The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said it had provided information to the investigation."The raids were part of a wider police operation targeting criminals from a number of European countries, and WADA's Intelligence and Investigations Department has been providing information and other assistance to the authorities in the course of their operation," WADA said in a statement.Two other people were arrested in Seefeld while another two, including the sports doctor, were arrested in Germany, the police said.The raids were part of an investigation that has lasted several months on suspicion of "professional sport fraud" and "use of prohibited substances and methods for doping purposes".At the 2006 Olympics in Turin, the Austrian cross country and biathlon teams had their headquarters raided by Italian police and drugs testers in a high-profile doping scandal.None tested positive but half a dozen athletes were banned for life after the discovery of syringes and other equipment, and the Austrian Olympic Committee was fined for anti-doping rules violations by the International Olympic Committee.


sottnet--2019-10-02--Jaw-dropping double-standards Russian world champ Lasitskene hits out after US star Coleman allow

'Jaw-dropping' double-standards: Russian world champ Lasitskene hits out after US star Coleman allowed to compete even after missed doping tests

the IAAF and international doping agencies had been less reserved in their treatment of Russian athletes and Russian anti-doping agencies, immediately banning them even on the slightest suspicions of doping.  Russian world champion high jumper Maria Lasitskene has hit out at athletics chiefs over the decision to drop doping charges against US sprinter Christian Coleman, who missed three tests in a row.Russian competitors have been performing without national symbols for over four years, after the IAAF imposed a ban on the Russian athletics body over alleged doping violations.Lasitskene, who received her gold medal at the ongoing World Champions in Doha, was outraged with what she sees as double-standards over US 100m star Coleman."My jaw dropped down to the floor when I learnt that Coleman was justified. But when I heard Mr. Coe's (IAAF president) reaction, my jaw dropped even lower," Lasitskene said over the decision to allow Coleman to compete in Qatar."What are we fighting for, guys? Where are we going? The man missed doping tests and doesn't hide it. He was unavailable for doping officers and now he is the world champion! Now he is a new face of athletics. Is it a joke?" Lasitskene fumed.The first woman in history to win three high jump world titles also stressed that"Every time I hear [Coleman's] name my jaw drops. Why do we need this anti-doping fight then?" Lasitskene said.The newly-crowned 100m world champion Coleman could have faced a two-year ban after missing three doping tests over a one-year period. However, the US anti-doping watchdog dropped the charges against the runner, stating that his whereabouts violation was "for a filing failure."


sottnet--2019-12-10--WADA's Russia doping ban is a 'war of politics' that 'robs clean athletes of glory'

Russia's ban from global sports is a punishment rife with politics, analysts told RT. Worse still, political decisions can punish clean athletes, who will be denied the honor of competing for their country.The World Anti-Doping Agency handed down the ban on Monday, after Russia was alleged to have manipulated data in a Moscow anti-doping laboratory. WADA voted to suspend Russia from all major sporting events for four years in response, meaning the Russian flag will not fly at the next two Olympic Games as well as the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, should Russia qualify.Clean athletes, however, will be able to compete, albeit under a neutral flag and with no national anthem.In the runup to the ban, US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) head Travis Tygart had called for even harsher penalties, including a blanket ban on all athletes, even those found to be clean.Russia's image will certainly be tarnished by the news, which broke just hours before Putin was due to sit down with French, German, and Ukrainian leaders in Paris, in a bid to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine. With the Paris summit being a long-awaited 'Normandy Format' meeting - first since 2016 - the stakes are high for all involved."It's bad news for that event," political analyst Martin McCauley told RT. "The newspapers will concentrate on this and not on the Normandy event." Likewise, the emergence of the news so close to the summit will likely give ample fodder to journalists quizzing Putin after the meetings conclude.Those athletes untainted by doping scandals have been "caught up in a war of politics," McCauley said. Though such athletes will be allowed to compete, standing on the podium without their national colors and celebrating without their national anthem reverberating through the arena will be "devastating," he said.Competing under a neutral flag is a "very small consolation," Henningsen added.Athletes typically spend their entire lives training to reach peak performance for one, maybe two, Olympic Games. However, all is not entirely lost for those who were hoping to represent Russia at next year's Summer Olympics in Tokyo. "The Russians can appeal," McCauley noted, "and one would expect they'd appeal very strongly indeed."The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) will now decide whether to appeal the ban. Russian parliamentarian and former Olympic speed skater Svetlana Zhurova said she is "100 percent sure" the agency will appeal.RUSADA has not had its work restricted by the WADA decision. Agency chief Yuri Ganus - a longtime critic of doping in Russia who has acknowledged that the data handed over to WADA was tampered with - said on Monday that "WADA considers our actions to be effective and productive. And we are an example of overcoming the crisis.""We will work on finding our way out of the crisis for our sport. We will ensure the compliance of our federations and with the code and the training of our athletes."Through appeal and reform, Ganus hopes to make Russian athletics clean again. His mission is one with political payoff too. Henningsen noted the power of international sport to build "person to person diplomacy," fostering good relations between countries, even when their leaders can't seem to agree on much else. The positive experiences of fans who traveled to Russia for last year's World Cup - against the advice of much of the western media - were an example of this, he said.A thaw on this front of the "New Cold War" would therefore be a welcome development, even if relations elsewhere remain decidedly icy.


sottnet--2019-12-20--Western countries top WADA's latest list of sports doping countries, NOT Russia

with Italy, France and the USA topping the list  The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has published its annual Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) report revealingThe report says that a total of 1,804 doping cases were recorded in 2017,"1,459 of the ADRVs came out of Adverse Analytical Findings (AAFs), commonly known as 'positive' results. The remainder were derived from investigations and evidence-based intelligence into 317 violations committed by athletes and 28 by athlete support personnel," WADA said Out of almost 2,000 detected doping cases, the majority of violations fell within endurance and power-demanding sports: bodybuilding, athletics and cycling.The newly published list is topped by cycling power-house Italy, which has 51 out of 171 cases recorded in the bicycle racing sport.France is in the second place with 128 cases, with bodybuilding (31 violations), cycling (13) and powerlifting (12) being the most doping-riddled sports in the country.The third place in the worst doping cheaters list is occupied by the USA, which has 103 doping cases detected by WADA in 2017. According to the report athletics (19), weightlifting (19), and cycling (14) appeared to be the most problematic sports in terms of using performance-enhancing drugs.At the start of December WADA's Executive Committee unanimously voted to hand a four-year ban to Russia, prohibiting the country from taking part in and hosting international sporting events for the alleged manipulation of doping data retrieved from a Moscow laboratory.The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) disagreed with WADA's verdict and plans to file an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in an attempt to overturn the ban.


sottnet--2019-12-24--NATO using WADA and doping claims to contain Russia - Lavrov

The persecution of Russia by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is politically motivated as the body remains in the hands of NATO member states who won't shy away from any means to harm Moscow, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov has said."When the whole pathos of fighting against doping is used to support the voice of."Earlier in December, WADA slapped Russia with harsh sanctions over the alleged manipulations with the database of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory it had received from the country's doping watchdog, RUSADA, as part of its reinstatement process.RUSADA was labeled non-compliant, with Russia being barred from major sporting events for the next four years. The country's athletes would only be able to complete internationally under a neutral flag, of course, if they manage to prove that they are clean.Moscow had vigorously denied the accusations and voiced plans to appeal the ban in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).Earlier this week, Russia's Investigative Committee announced the result of its probe into the alleged meddling with the Moscow laboratory's files. It said the database had been accessed remotely by the lab's former head, Grigory Rodchenkov, who fled to the US in 2015 and became WADA's main witness in the case against Russia. The investigators also revealed that Rodchenkov had provided WADA with "a sort of an alternative archive of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory," the origin and the content of which remain unknown.


spiegel--2019-12-10--Whistleblower Rodtschenkow: Kronzeuge für Russlands Doping meldet sich aus Untergrund zu Wort

Whistleblower Grigorij Rodtschenkow hat die Sanktionen der Welt-Antidopingagentur gegen Russland begrüßt und zugleich harte Strafen für die Verantwortlichen des Sportbetrugs gefordert.  "Endlich wurden Betrug, Lügen und Fälschungen von unbeschreiblichem Ausmaß in vollem Umfang bestraft", sagte der frühere Leiter des Moskauer Antidopinglabors in einer persönlichen Erklärung, aus der die BBC in einem Bericht zitierte.  "Diejenigen, die an der Korruption bestimmter Sportarten wie Leichtathletik, Gewichtheben, Skifahren, Biathlon und Bob beteiligt sind, sollten rückwirkend bestraft werden", betonte Rodtschenkow, der nach seiner Flucht aus der Heimat seit 2016 an einem unbekannten Ort in den USA lebt. "Die Ergebnisse der Olympischen Spiele in London (2012) und Sotschi (2014) sollten erneut analysiert und mit den heute verfügbaren Erkenntnissen neu bewertet werden", sagte der Kronzeuge bei der Aufklärung des russischen Dopingsystems.  "Es gibt eine ganze Generation sauberer Athleten, die ihre Träume schmerzvoll aufgegeben mussten und aufgrund russischer Betrüger ihre Auszeichnungen verloren haben", meinte Rodtschenkow. "Wir müssen die härtesten Maßnahmen ergreifen, um dem Sport wieder Gerechtigkeit zu verleihen."  Das Wada-Exekutivkomitee hatte am Montag die Empfehlung der unabhängigen Prüfkommission CRC bestätigt und die russische Antidopingagentur Rusada bis 2023 suspendiert. Athleten des Landes, die nicht in den Staatsdopingskandal verwickelt gewesen sind, dürfen in diesem Zeitraum nur als neutrale Sportler starten. Dies gilt für die Olympischen und Paralympischen Spiele 2020 in Tokio und 2022 in Peking, die Olympischen Jugendspiele und Weltmeisterschaften von Sportarten, die den Wada-Code unterschrieben haben, sowie sogenannte Major-Sportevents.  In den kommenden Wochen kann Russland das Urteil allerdings noch vor dem Internationalen Sportgerichtshof Cas anfechten. Der russische Präsident Wladimir Putin stellte diesen Schritt in Aussicht. "Wir müssen uns diese Entscheidung zunächst sehr genau anschauen", sagte Putin in der Nacht zum Dienstag. Es sei aber offensichtlich, dass es keine juristische Grundlage für die Entscheidung gebe und auch nicht der Satzung der Olympischen Spiele entspreche. "Wir haben allen Grund, Klage beim Cas einzureichen." • Rusada-Chef Ganus: Die sauberen Sportler sind die Leidtragenden  Putin betonte, dass sein Land nicht kollektiv für einzelne Dopingfälle bestraft werden dürfe. "Es gibt wohl Grund zur Annahme, dass es bei solchen Entscheidungen nicht um die Sauberkeit des Weltsports geht, sondern um politische Überlegungen. Diese sind nicht im Interesse des Sports und der olympischen Bewegung."  Die Sperre Russlands geht auf den Streit über manipulierte Daten aus dem Moskauer Antidopinglabor zurück. Die Aushändigung an die Wada war im September 2018 eine Voraussetzung für die Wiederaufnahme der russischen Antidopingagentur Rusada. Mit dem Datensatz sollten das Ausmaß des Dopingskandals belegt und individuelle Verfahren gegen Sportler möglich werden. Nach dem Bericht der Prüfkommission seien jedoch Tausende Daten gelöscht oder manipuliert worden.


sputnik--2019-01-12--WATCH Norwegian Athlete Open His Doping Tests With Bare Hands

Norway's anti-doping officers came to Sondre to collect his urine and blood samples. After collecting the samples, they gave the athlete the sealed containers for him to make sure that his test cannot be opened without special WADA equipment — or without being destroyed. While his urine tests appeared to be tamper-proof, a problem arose with his sealed blood tests.  The 19-year-old rising pole vaulting star, who holds the Norwegian pole vaulting record, successfully screwed on the cap, but he was also able to unscrew it by applying some force — something an athlete is not supposed to be able to do. He is also said to have unsealed another two vessels.  The video, shot by Sondre's father and published by the local daily VG, gave Anti-Doping Norway a cause for concern that athletes could manipulate their samples due to this shortcoming.  Berlinger Special AG, the Swiss-based firm that made the doping control containers, reportedly believes the blunder was caused by Sondre applying too much force to open the container while the instruction "clearly" warns against doing so.  This explanation has apparently not satisfied Norway's anti-doping officials, who have vowed to discuss the matter with the manufacturer, withdraw other vessels with the same serial number as those opened by Guttormsen as well as add extra seals to all blood tests.