Yusuf Pathan gets banned of 5 months for doping

Yusuf Pathan was punished with a back-dated ban of 5 months on Tuesday for a doping violation. Significantly, his ban will end on January 14, having started on August 15 last year. The 35-year-old was banned after he inadvertently ingested a prohibited substance, which can be commonly found in cough syrups.

Thereby, Pathan will be available for the Indian Premier League (IPL) players’ auction on January 27 and 28 after not being retained by the Kolkata Knight Riders.

The Baroda cricketer had provided a urine sample as part of the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) anti-doping testing programme during a domestic Twenty20 competition on March 16, 2017, in New Delhi.

His sample was subsequently tested and found to contain Terbutaline, which is a specified substance and is prohibited both in & out of competition in the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) prohibited list of substances.

“On October 27, 2017, Mr Pathan was charged with the commission of an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) under the BCCI Anti-Doping Rules (ADR) Article 2.1 and provisionally suspended pending determination of the charge,” said a BCCI statement on Tuesday.

“Mr Pathan responded to the charge by admitting the ADRV and asserting that it was caused by his ingestion of a medication containing Terbutaline that had been mistakenly given to him instead of the medication prescribed for him, which did not contain any prohibited substance.”

In his response, Pathan released a statement saying that he was confident of being cleared of deliberate usage and vowed to be more careful in future.

“Competing for India and my home state Baroda has been a matter of immense pride and encouragement for me and I would never act in any manner to bring my motherland or Baroda, in any kind of disrepute,” Pathan said.

“In hindsight, I should have been more careful and checked the status of the medications with BCCI’s dedicated anti-doping helpline.”

BCCI statement

The BCCI gave details of the violation adding that they are satisfied with Pathan’s explanation.

“The BCCI is satisfied with Mr Pathan’s explanation that he had taken Terbutaline inadvertently to treat an Upper Respiratory Tract Infection (URTI) and not as a performance-enhancing drug. Having considered all of the evidence and taken expert external advice, the BCCI has accepted Mr Pathan’s explanation of the cause of his ADRV, and on that basis has agreed that a period of ineligibility of five months should apply, together with the disqualification of certain results,” said the BCCI statement.

“Under BCCI ADR Article 10.10.3, Mr Pathan is entitled to the full credit against that period of ineligibility for the provisional suspension that he has been serving since 28 October 2017. In addition, there is discretion under BCCI ADR Article 10.10.2 to back-date the start date of the period of ineligibility still further on account of Mr Pathan’s prompt admission of his ADRV upon being confronted with it by the BCCI, and under BCCI ADR Article 10.10.1 on account of the delays in the results management in this case that are not attributable to Mr Pathan. In all of the circumstances, the five-month period of ineligibility will be deemed to have started to run on 15 August 2017 and end at midnight on 14 January 2018.”

Pathan has played 57 ODIs and 22 T20s for India and has represented Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Pole vault record holder Yelena Isinbayeva retires from competing

Rio de Janeiro – Yelena Isinbayeva walked away from competing but not from her sport on Friday.

The women’s pole vault world record holder announced her retirement as she focuses on a new career in sports politics and considers an offer to lead Russian track and field.

Isinbayeva was prevented from seeking a third Olympic title in Rio de Janeiro after the IAAF banned all but one Russian track and field athlete from the games over their country’s state-sponsored doping scandal.

She still traveled to Rio to campaign in the election for the athletes’ representative on the International Olympic Committee. A day after being among the four winning candidates, the 34-year-old Isinbayeva decided she doesn’t want to compete anymore.

“Today in Rio on August 19 2016, Yelena Isinbayeva is finishing her professional career,” she said close to the end of a 50-minute news conference.

“Yesterday’s election to the IOC commission inspired me,” Isinbayeva added through a translator. “It means I am not saying goodbye to the sport. I say goodbye to the pole, to my medals … I fulfilled my dreams.”

And without doping, she maintains.

“I have proved it again and again,” she said. “All my tests were negative.”

One of her priorities now is campaigning for Russia’s IAAF suspension to be lifted so fellow clean athletes can resume their professional careers. Isinbayeva could be taking on that mission as the top administrator in Russian athletics.

“I have received an offer to head up the federation,” Isinbayeva said. “It is an interesting offer but it is also a serious challenge.

“When I get back from the Olympics I will meet the president of the federation. We will talk about my future role. I find it very interesting … I think I can bring the federation back into the IAAF fold.”

Isinbayeva remains aggrieved about the IAAF’s treatment of Russia. She said it “speaks volumes about the IAAF” leadership that they didn’t congratulate her for being one of four successful candidates in the IOC athletes’ commission election.

“I am a bit offended,” she said. “We are the same team … but for some reason I didn’t receive any congratulations.”

Although Isinbayeva said she forgives IAAF President Sebastian Coe for the “injustice” of banning Russia, she said: “Let it be on their conscience. God will be their judge.”

Isinbayeva also railed against the “unfair” investigations by the World Anti-Doping Agency, which has published reports in the last year by investigators Dick Pound and Richard McLaren.

“All of the accusations that have leveled have been built upon assumptions, there are no facts, no proof but for some reason (McLaren’s) assumptions were sufficient to raise the question of banning the entire Russian team (from the Olympics),” Isinbayeva said. “I would like to see more facts, more specific proof against specific athletes.”

She urged sports administrators to be “dignified” in developing sport rather than fostering “some useful war.”

Isinbayeva won gold medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics and 2008 Beijing Games. She took bronze four years ago in London and will be elsewhere in Rio rather than watching the women’s Olympic pole vault final on Friday night.

“When you compete without Isinbayeva this isn’t going to be a fully-fledged gold medal,” she said

 AP

Three Russian athletes disqualified for failing anti-doping tests at Beijing 2008

Anastasia KAPACHINSKAYA, 36, of the Russian Federation, competing in the women’s 400m and 4x400m relay events, has been disqualified from the Olympic Games Beijing 2008, in which she ranked 5th and 2nd with her teammates. Reanalysis of Kapachinskaya’s samples from Beijing 2008 resulted in a positive test for the prohibited substances stanozolol and dehydrochlormethyltestosterone (turinabol).

The IOC Disciplinary Commission, composed for this case of Denis Oswald (Chairman), Juan Antonio Samaranch and Ugur Erdener, decided the following:

1. The Athlete, Anastasia KAPACHINSKAYA:

1. is found to have committed an anti-doping rule violation pursuant to the IOC Anti-Doping Rules applicable to the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing in 2008 (presence and/or use of a Prohibited Substance or its Metabolites or Markers in an athlete’s bodily specimen
2. is disqualified from all the events in which she participated upon the occasion of the Olympic Games Beijing 2008, namely, the women’s 400m and the women’s 4x400m relay, and
3. has the medal, the medallist pin and the diplomas obtained in the women’s 400m and the women’s 4x400m relay withdrawn and is ordered to return the same.

2. The Russian Federation Team is disqualified from the women’s 4x400m relay. The corresponding medals and diplomas are withdrawn and shall be returned.
3. The IAAF is requested to modify the results of the above-mentioned events accordingly and to consider any further action within its own competence.
4. The Russian Olympic Committee shall ensure full implementation of this decision.
5. The Russian Olympic Committee shall notably secure the return to the IOC, as soon as possible, of the medals, the medallist pins and the diplomas awarded in connection with the women’s 400m and in connection with the women’s 4x400m relay to the Athlete and to the other team members of the women’s 4x400m Russian Federation Team.
6. This decision enters into force immediately.

The full decision is available here.

Alexander POGORELOV, 36, of the Russian Federation, competing in the decathlon event, has been disqualified from the Olympic Games Beijing 2008 in which he ranked 4th. Reanalysis of Pogorelov’s samples from Beijing 2008 resulted in a positive test for the prohibited substance dehydrochlormethyltestosterone (turinabol).

The IOC Disciplinary Commission, composed for this case of Denis Oswald (Chairman), Juan Antonio Samaranch and Ugur Erdener, decided the following:

1. The Athlete, Alexander POGORELOV:

1. is found to have committed an anti-doping rule violation pursuant to the IOC Anti-Doping Rules applicable to the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing in 2008 (presence and/or use of a Prohibited Substance or its Metabolites or Markers in an athlete’s bodily specimen),
2. is disqualified from the decathlon event in which he participated upon the occasion of the Olympic Games Beijing 2008, and
3. has the diploma obtained in the decathlon event withdrawn and is ordered to return the same.

2. The IAAF is requested to modify the results of the above-mentioned event accordingly and to consider any further action within its own competence.
3. The Russian Olympic Committee shall ensure full implementation of this decision.
4. The Russian Olympic Committee shall notably secure the return to the IOC, as soon as possible, of the diploma awarded in connection with the decathlon event to the Athlete.
5. This decision enters into force immediately.

The full decision is available here.

Ivan YUSHKOV, 35, of the Russian Federation, competing in athletics (shot put event), has been disqualified from the Olympic Games Beijing 2008 in which he ranked 10th. Reanalysis of Yushkov’s samples from Beijing 2008 resulted in a positive test for the prohibited substances stanozolol, oxandrolone and dehydrochlormethyltestosterone (turinabol).

The IOC Disciplinary Commission, composed for this case of Denis Oswald (Chairman), Juan Antonio Samaranch and Ugur Erdener, decided the following:

1. The Athlete, Ivan YUSHKOV:

1. is found to have committed an anti-doping rule violation pursuant to the IOC Anti-Doping Rules applicable to the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing in 2008 (presence and/or use of a Prohibited Substance or its Metabolites or Markers in an athlete’s bodily specimen),
2. is disqualified from the shot put event in which he participated upon the occasion of the Olympic Games Beijing 2008.

2. The IAAF is requested to modify the results of the above-mentioned events accordingly and to consider any further action within its own competence.
3. The Russian Olympic Committee shall ensure full implementation of this decision.
4. This decision enters into force immediately.

The full decision is available here.

IOC imposed ban on Russia’s Yulia Chermoshanskaya for failing anti-doping test at Beijing 2008

Rio de Janeiro – The IOC today announced that an athlete has been disqualified from the Olympic Games Beijing 2008. The details follow.

Yulia CHERMOSHANSKAYA, 30, of the Russian Federation, competing in the women’s 200m and the women’s 4x100m relay events, has been disqualified from the Olympic Games Beijing 2008, in which she ranked 8th in the 200m and 1st in the 4x100m relay with her teammates. Reanalysis of Chermoshanskaya’s samples from Beijing 2008 resulted in a positive test for the prohibited substances stanozolol and dehydrochlormethyltestosterone (turinabol).

The IOC Disciplinary Commission, composed for this case of Denis Oswald (Chairman), Gunilla Lindberg and Ugur Erdener, decided the following:

1. The Athlete, Yulia CHERMOSHANSKAYA:

1. is found to have committed an anti-doping rule violation pursuant to the IOC Anti-Doping Rules applicable to the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing in 2008 (presence and/or use, of a Prohibited Substance or its Metabolites or Markers in an athlete’s bodily specimen)
2. is disqualified from all the events in which she participated on the occasion of the Olympic Games Beijing 2008, namely, the Women’s 200m and the Women’s 4x100m relay, and
3. has the medal, the medallist pin and the diplomas obtained in the Women’s 200m and the Women’s 4x100m relay withdrawn and is ordered to return the same.

2. The Russian Federation Team is disqualified from the Women’s 4x100m relay. The corresponding medals and diplomas are withdrawn and shall be returned.
3. The IAAF is requested to modify the results of the above-mentioned events accordingly and to consider any further action within its own competence.
4. The Russian Olympic Committee shall ensure full implementation of this decision.
5. The Russian Olympic Committee shall notably secure the return to the IOC, as soon as possible, of the medals, the medallist pins and the diplomas awarded in connection with the Women’s 200m and in connection with the Women’s 4x100m relay to the Athlete and to the other team members of the Women’s 4x100m Russian Federation Team.
6. This decision enters into force immediately.

The full decision is available here.

The additional analyses on samples collected during the Olympic Games Beijing 2008 and London 2012 were performed with improved analytical methods, in order to possibly detect prohibited substances that could not be identified by the analysis performed at the time of these editions of the Olympic Games.

Sole Russian athletics competitor Klishina suspended from Games – IAAF

Athletics – Russian track and field championship – Women’s long jump – Cheboksary, Russia, 21/6/16. Darya Klishina during an attempt. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

RIO DE JANEIRO – Russia’s sole track and field competitor at the Rio Olympics, Darya Klishina, has been suspended from the Games, the international athletics federation (IAAF) said on Saturday, confirming it had withdrawn her special eligibility status.

The exemption to a blanket ban on Russian competitors over allegations of state-sponsored doping had been given to the long jumper after she had proved she was not involved in the system and had been subject to drug tests outside the country.

Klishina insisted on social media that she was a clean athlete and said the decision, which she is appealing against at sport’s highest tribunal, was politically motivated

“The situation with Darya Klishina appears to be cynical mockery of the Russian sportswoman by the IAAF,” Russia’s Olympics chief Alexander Zhukov told Russian news agencies.

A source close to the proceedings, who spoke on condition of anonymity said Klishina had been suspended as new evidence had emerged in relation to a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) report, the McLaren report.

The International Association of Athletics Federations told Reuters the long jumper had taken her case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, without giving further information. Olympic bosses confirmed the move.

“We have withdrawn her exceptional eligibility status which enables her to compete in international competitions based on new information that has been received,” an International Olympic Committee official told Reuters.

“This information was shared with her last week. We can confirm she is challenging our decision at CAS,” the official said.

The IOC reviewed all the eligibilities submitted by the federations through a three-member panel.

CAS said it expected to rule on her appeal either on Sunday or Monday.

“BEAUTIFUL SPORT”

The report drafted by Canadian Richard McLaren described what WADA said was systematic doping among Russian athletes, supported by the Russian state over several years, including at the 2014 Sochi winter Olympics.

Klishina said she hoped to get a hearing over the weekend to prove her innocence.

“I am a clean athlete and have proved that already many times and beyond any doubt. Based in the U.S. for three years now, I have been almost exclusively tested outside of the anti-doping system in question,” she said on Facebook.

“I am falling victim to those who created a system of manipulating our beautiful sport and is guilty of using it for political purposes.”

“At this moment I cannot help but feel betrayed by a system that is not focused on keeping the sport clean and supporting rank-and-file athletes, but rather seeking victories outside sport arenas,” she said.

Russia’s track and field athletes had been banned from the Olympics due to the doping scandal. Klishina’s was one of 136 appeals to the IAAF but the only one given the green light to compete in Rio.

Dmitry Shlyakhtin, president of the Russian Athletics Federation, said Russia had expected such a twist.

“This is not a normal situation, but we anticipated it. I spoke about it, that is issue with Klishina could arise, and here it is,” he told Russia’s R-Sport news agency.

Shlyakhtin said he thought it was unlikely the long jumper’s appeal would be upheld. “In general I am cynical,” R-Sport quoted him as saying.

Reuters

Olympics 2016-CAS expelled or suspended three athletes for doping

Rio de Janeiro – A Chinese swimmer, a Polish weightlifter and a Bulgarian steeplechaser on Friday were expelled or suspended from the Olympics for doping, the first athletes sanctioned after failing drug tests at the Games.

Weightlifter Tomasz Zielinski and steeplechaser Silvia Danekova were kicked out of the Games after testing positive for banned substances, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said.

Swimmer Chen Xinyi accepted a “provisional suspension” after testing positive for a diuretic. The court said her case will continue, with a final decision to be issued before the end of the Games.

The 18-year-old Chen’s Olympics were over anyway. She finished fourth Sunday in the 100-meter butterfly and pulled out before Friday’s 50-meter freestyle, her final event of the Games.

These were the first decisions issued by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which is handling doping cases at the Olympics for the first time. The International Olympic Committee handed over responsibility to the court in a bid to make the process more independent.

Chen tested positive for hydrochlorothiazide, which is listed by the World Anti-Doping Agency as a “specified substance.” Athletes testing positive for those substances can receive reduced penalties because of the possibility the drug was taken inadvertently.

“The athlete accepted a provisional suspension on a voluntary basis,” the court said of Chen. “As a consequence, the athlete is provisionally suspended from competing at the Olympic Games. The procedure will continue and the CAS (anti-doping division) will issue a final award before the end of the games.”

Zielinski, who was scheduled to compete in the 94-kilogram division, tested positive for the steroid 19-Norandrosterone, while Danekova tested positive for EPO, a blood-boosting hormone that aids stamina and endurance.

Both were excluded from the Games and stripped of their Olympic accreditation. Their cases were handed over to their international federations for possible further sanctions. Both could face two-year bans.

Danekova, 33, was not considered a medal contender in the steeplechase, which starts with heats Saturday. Zielinski already had been sent home from Rio after his positive test. On Friday, the Polish weightlifting federation said his brother, Tomasz, a gold medalist at the 2012 London Olympics, tested positive for the steroid nandrolone in Poland on July 1 and faces being sent home from Rio.

Boxing: Tyson Fury has denied doping allegation

London: World heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has denied an allegation of doping after a British Sunday newspaper said he was under investigation.

“We are baffled by today’s story in the Sunday Mirror,” said a statement issued by the boxer’s promoter Hennessy Sports.

“Tyson Fury absolutely denies any allegation of doping. He looks forward to recovering from his injury and defending his titles against Wladimir Klitschko in October.”

The newspaper reported that traces of a banned anabolic steroid were “allegedly discovered” in a sample taken from Fury before he beat Klitschko last year.

It said the boxer could lose his world title belts and face a lengthy ban if found guilty.

A UK Anti-Doping spokeswoman said the agency did not discuss or disclose details of any cases until legal processes had been completed.

Fury had been due to defend his WBA and WBO heavyweight titles against Klitschko in Manchester on July 9 but announced a postponement on Friday after he saying he had suffered an ankle sprain while training.

The 27-year-old caused a huge upset by beating Klitschko on a unanimous decision in November, inflicting the 40-year-old Ukrainian’s first loss in 11 years.

 

Reuters

WADA suspends Rio lab ahead of Olympics

A woman walks into the head office for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on November 9, 2015. REUTERS/Christinne Muschi/File Photo

Montreal, Canada

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has suspended credentials for a testing lab in Rio de Janeiro just over a month before the city hosts the Olympics, due to non-conformity with international laboratory standards.

WADA said in a public statement on Friday that the Rio lab has 21 days to appeal the decision to an arbitration court, starting on Wednesday when the agency first communicated its decision to the lab. The laboratory at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro declined to comment immediately on the decision.

Russia faces another Rio ban over dope tests

The Russian national flag (R) and the Olympic flag are seen during the closing ceremony for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Russia, February 23, 2014. REUTERS/Jim Young/File Photo

London:

Russia’s weightlifters face being banned from the Rio Olympics, subject to confirmation by the International Olympic Committee, in another collective doping punishment to hit the country.

Five days after its track and field team’s suspension from the 2016 Games was upheld, Russia’s weightlifters are now also set to be suspended from the August 5-21 Olympics.

Belarus and weightlifting superpower Kazakhstan were also banned over failed retests from the 2008 and 2012 Olympics on Wednesday by the sport’s governing body, the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), which also punished other nations by reducing the number of available athlete slots in Rio.

Retrospective doping tests carried out by the IOC have led to 17 positives from 2008 and 2012, said the IWF. The governing body added there may be more cases to come.

The IWF is awaiting confirmation of those failures and a final tally from the IOC, who were not immediately available when contacted late on Wednesday by Reuters.

Earlier this week the IOC supported the IAAF’s decision to continue its ban on all Russian track and field athletes as a collective punishment for the country’s systematic doping problems, saying that such a decision was for each sport’s federation.

Because of those results, and an unprecedented 24 positives at the weightlifting world championships in Houston, Texas, last November, a special meeting was called for this week in Tbilisi, host of this weekend’s youth world championships.

The IWF, stressing its “zero tolerance” toward dopers, said it had taken 11 places away from teams who had committed four or more doping offences in 2015. Two of those teams were Russia and Kazakhstan, so the sanctions could yet be overtaken by a team ban. The others were Azerbaijan, North Korea and Moldova (two places each) and Belarus (one).

As for the banning of entire teams, the IWF said in a statement: “The IWF Executive Board has decided that national federations confirmed to have produced three or more anti-doping rule violations in the combined re-analysis process of the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games shall be suspended for one year.

“Countries thus subject to suspension are Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus.”

Because the tests were not carried out by the IWF, the sport’s administrators are seeking formal confirmation from the IOC that the positives are not subject to appeal or amendment.

The executive board also castigated the European Weightlifting Federation for its recent appointment of Sergey Systsov, president of the Russian Federation, as chair of its anti-doping commission.

“Given the current environment, the IWF Executive Board strongly suggests that Mr Syrtsov and the European Weightlifting Federation reconsiders the appointment,” said a statement.

The IWF has set up an independent commission to investigate the nations who returned three or more positives from the retesting of 2008 and 2012 samples, which was carried out after advances in science enabled better detection of prohibited substances.

The worst offender was Kazakhstan. Ilya Ilyin, the world’s most popular weightlifter, is expected to lose his gold medals from Beijing and London, while three Kazakh women who won in 2012 also tested positive.

The IWF also vowed to toughen its anti-doping policy in future, threatening to ban nations who had the worst doping record during an Olympic qualifying period. It also said it would set up a task force and aimed to test every athlete, before the Games, who will be competing in Rio.

The Olympic bans take to four the number of nations who will not be allowed to compete in Rio. Bulgaria had been excluded last year, after 11 lifters at a training camp tested positive. Romania and Uzbekistan had already lost one quota place each.

 

Reuters

More crackdowns expected on drugs cheats before Rio Olympics

LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND

President of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Craig Reedie (L) speaks with President of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) Francesco Ricci Bitti during the Olympic Summit in Lausanne, Switzerland June 21, 2016.

REUTERS/DENIS BALIBOUSE

Leading sports powerbrokers gathered at the International Olympic Committee’s headquarters on Tuesday morning to discuss further crackdowns on drug cheats before the Rio Games.

International athletics boss Sebastian Coe and Russia’s Olympic committee chief Alexander Zhukov were present at the meeting, just four days after the IAAF maintained its suspension of Russia’s track and field team, effectively ruling out their participation in Rio.

The gathering of IOC members and federation heads is set to discuss the situation in Russia as well as several other countries, non-compliant with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The IOC said it would discuss “the difficult decision between collective responsibility and individual justice”.

On Saturday the IOC backed the IAAF’s decision to extend its ban on Russia for systematic doping, denting hopes the nation might have had of competing at the Rio Games in August with a full team.

The IAAF suspended Russia last year over concerns its athletes were guilty of systematic doping.

Several countries, including Russia, Mexico, Ethiopia and Kenya among other, are non-compliant with WADA less than two months before the start of the Rio Games.