Governing Bodies
CAS HEARING BEGINS AS RUSSIA BIDS TO OVERTURN 4-YEAR BAN FROM INTERNATIONAL SPORT
Russia’s attempt to overturn its four-year ban from international sport got under way in Lausanne on Monday (Nov 2), the latest chapter of a long-running and controversial saga over state-sanctioned doping.
Global anti-doping body Wada in December last year declared the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (Rusada) to be non-compliant after being accused of manipulating testing data.
The ban meant the country would miss the re-arranged Tokyo Olympics next year as well as football’s 2022 World Cup in Qatar and the 2022 Winter Olympics in China.
A hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which opened on Monday and is expected to last until Friday, has already caused division.
Wada had requested that the proceedings be held in public, but following disagreement between all parties, the three CAS judges eventually opened the first session behind closed doors via teleconference.
A decision will only be made public on an undisclosed date.
Russia considers its ban to be legally indefensible.
Former Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev described the suspension as “chronic anti-Russian hysteria”.
Crucial week for Russian sport
The hearing is being billed as a landmark week for Russian sport and global anti-doping efforts.
Wada, formed in 1999, also has plenty on the line after the United States threatened to pull its annual US$2.7 million (S$3.68 million) financing.
US lawmakers accused Wada of failing to implement governance reforms and have criticised the handling of the Russian scandal.
Also, the International Olympic Committee and sports federations are expecting clear directives from CAS, eight months before the Tokyo Olympics.
“Wada has left no stone unturned in preparation for this hearing and we are looking forward to having the opportunity to present our case clearly and fairly to the panel,” said Wada president Witold Banka.
“I remain convinced that the Wada Executive Committee made the right recommendation in this case last December.
“As at every other stage, we are following due process in relation to Rusada’s compliance procedure as we continue to deal effectively with this complex matter.”
The Russian saga is now uncomfortably into its fifth year.
In May 2016, Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of Moscow’s anti-doping laboratory, blew the whistle over state-backed doping at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
Barely two weeks before the 2016 Olympics in July that year, Wada called for Russia to be banned from Rio.
The IOC, however, stopped short of an outright ban and said individual federations would decide whether to allow Russian athletes to compete.
In 2017, the IOC banned the Russian Olympic Committee from the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games, but allowed clean Russian athletes to take part as neutral competitors.
A total of 168 Russians eventually competed.
Then, in September 2018, Wada controversially lifted its ban on Rusada, despite not having been granted access to its doping-tainted Moscow laboratory.
Russia finally handed over lab data to Wada in January 2019.
However, in yet another twist, in September Wada gave Russia three weeks to explain “inconsistencies” in the data.
World Athletics announced it had suspended the process of reinstating Russia’s athletics federation and was contemplating expelling the country entirely from the sport due to the doping scandal.
Wada then decided to ban Russia for four years over the manipulated data.
-AFP
By Kunle Solaja.
Nigeria is set to host the 48th Ordinary General Assembly of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), marking the third time the country will stage the continent’s top football gathering.
The development was confirmed in a statement issued by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), which disclosed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on the sidelines of the ongoing Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, approved Nigeria’s proposal to host the event.
The approval followed a meeting between President Tinubu and CAF President Patrice Motsepe, attended by Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, NFF President Ibrahim Musa Gusau, former NFF President and Special Adviser to the CAF President Amaju Melvin Pinnick, as well as CAF Acting General Secretary Samson Adamu.
Sports Villages Square affirms that Nigeria previously hosted the CAF Congress at the National Theatre in Lagos in March 1980 and again in February 2009, when the late CAF President Issa Hayatou secured another four-year term in office.
In addition to this year’s 48th Ordinary General Assembly, scheduled for October, Nigeria also secured the hosting rights of the CAF Awards ceremony. The annual awards gala, which celebrates Africa’s top football performers, has been staged in Morocco over the past three years.
Nigeria had earlier hosted the CAF Awards when telecom firm, Globacom, was the headline sponsor. This year’s event will be the seventh to be held in Nigeria after those of 2005, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014 and 2016.
The CAF Ordinary General Assembly traditionally attracts key football stakeholders from across the continent, including presidents of CAF’s 54 member associations, representatives of the six zonal unions and senior football administrators.
The CAF Awards ceremony is regarded as one of African football’s flagship events, honouring outstanding players, coaches, clubs and officials in a glamorous setting that showcases the continent’s football excellence.
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FIFA’s independent Ethics Committee has banned former Guyana Football Federation (GFF) General Secretary Ian Alves from all football-related activities for five years after finding he sexually harassed female staff members.
FIFA also fined Alves 20,000 Swiss francs ($22,000) after determining that he had breached provisions of the FIFA Code of Ethics relating to the protection of physical and mental integrity, abuse of position and general duties.
“FIFA has a strict stance against all forms of abuse in football,” the organisation said on Monday.
The decision followed a review of written statements from the victims, documents provided by the GFF, submissions from Alves, and other evidence gathered during the investigation.
Alves stepped down from his position in 2024.
The ban came into force on Monday, when the terms of the decision were notified to Alves, and the full grounds for the ruling will be communicated within 60 days in accordance with the Code of Ethics, FIFA added.
The GFF did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Alves could not immediately be reached for comment.
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FIFA President Gianni Infantino said on Thursday that he planned to seek re-election for a fourth term in a bid to continue to lead the governing body of world soccer.
Infantino confirmed he would run for the 2027–2031 term in the closing moments of the FIFA Congress in Vancouver, which comes less than two months before the start of the World Cup.
The election will be held on March 18 in Morocco, which is set to co-host the 2030 World Cup.
Infantino said he was “honoured and humbled” to have the chance to run for a fourth term.
The Italian-Swiss took office in 2016, replacing Sepp Blatter, and was re-elected unopposed in 2019 and 2023.
Infantino has pushed for the expansion of FIFA competitions during his tenure, with this year’s World Cup in North America the first to feature 48 teams, while the women’s tournament in 2023 has been expanded to 32 teams.
Infantino’s tenure has also drawn some criticism over issues such as high World Cup ticket prices and the decision to award the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize to U.S. President Donald Trump at the World Cup draw in December.
Earlier this month, the council of South American football’s governing body (CONMEBOL) said in a statement it would unanimously support the 56-year-old if he decided to seek another term.
-Reuters
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