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Governing Bodies

CAS BANS OLYMPIC CHAMPION

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Chinese Olympic swimming champion Sun Yang has been banned for eight years after one of his entourage destroyed his blood vial with a hammer during an attempted drugs test in September 2018, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has announced.

The CAS panel upheld an appeal by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) against a decision from the International Swimming Federation (FINA) to let Sun off with a warning after finding him guilty of tampering with the doping control process.

Sun, a three-times Olympic champion who served a three-month drugs ban in 2014, received the maximum eight-year sanction for a second doping offence and will not be able to return until February 2028.

The decision, which comes after a 10-hour public hearing in November, effectively ends Sun’s career and rules him out of competing at this year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Sun is set to appeal the verdict to the Swiss Federal Tribunal.

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The CAS ruled the 28-year-old had “failed to establish that he had a compelling justification to destroy his sample collection containers”.

His vial was smashed with a hammer on the instruction of Sun’s mother.

“As the panel noted, it is one thing, having provided a blood sample, to question the accreditation of the testing personnel while keeping the intact samples in the possession of the testing authorities; it is quite another thing, after lengthy exchanges and warnings as to the consequences, to act in such a way that results in destroying the sample containers, thereby eliminating any chance of testing the sample at a later stage,” the ruling read.

The panel agreed with WADA that the accreditation of the doping control officer at the centre of the row which led to the vial being smashed were in line with international standards.

“WADA decided to appeal the original FINA ruling having carefully reviewed it and having concluded that there were a number of points that seemed to be incorrect under the code,” said WADA director general Olivier Niggli.

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“Today’s CAS ruling confirms those concerns and is a significant result.”

In its ruling, FINA’s independent doping panel declared the attempted sample collection “invalid and void” amid concerns over the accreditation of the testers from Swedish firm IDTM.

The panel also claimed Sun had “compelling justification” not to deal with the chaperone, who allegedly took photos and video of the swimmer on his phone.

“FINA has noted the judgement published by CAS today in the case of WADA versus Chinese swimmer Sun Yang,” FINA said in a short statement in response to the CAS ruling.

“Notwithstanding any further legal action, and as directed, FINA will implement CAS’s decision with regard to disciplinary action against the swimmer.”

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During the hearing, marred by translation issues, the 11-times world champion protested his innocence and claimed the officials’ credentials did not adhere to anti-doping regulations.

Sun, the subject of protests from rival swimmers after he won two gold medals at last year’s FINA World Championships, appeared evasive under questioning and irked the panel’s President Franco Frattini by attempting to bring a member of the gallery into proceedings to translate his closing statement.

The controversial swimmer, one of the biggest names in the sport, had requested the hearing be held in public.

The CAS also confirmed Sun would keep the two titles he claimed at the World Championships in Gwangju.

-insidethegames

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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Governing Bodies

African football set to benefit from newly launched CAF VAR Academy Programme

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The Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) is launching the CAF Video Assistant Referee (VAR) Academy for the 54 CAF Member Associations – a move that is aimed at elevating the standard of officiating in Africa.

Following CAF’s recent hosting of the most successful  Africa Cup of Nations that saw the quality of officiating being singled out, CAF is building onto this success with the innovative academy set to be rolled out between September and October 2024.

The CAF VAR Academy will train Elite Referees across the continent for international competitions and national championships on the use of VAR and ensure that Africa continues to produce elite referees, as seen in recent times.

CAF Technical Development Director, Raul Chipenda said the VAR Academy Programme is a practical step by CAF to improve the standard of match officiating in Africa and ensure that African referees are equipped to compete against the best in the world.

“In the last few months, CAF has had a strong bias in upskilling match officials on the usage of VAR that is why at the AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire, our officials were rated amongst the best. But it does not help having a small group, we need a big pool.

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“Officiating plays a critical role in the development of African football, as evidently seen in the success of the recent  AFCON. CAF actively oversees and supports a number of football development programmes and competitions across Africa and with that said, it is equally vital that match officials across Africa are adequately equipped with the latest officiating technology, means and education in order to remain on par with the existing pool of officials on the continent”, said Chipenda.

The CAF VAR Academy, which will be attended by elite referees across CAF’s 54 Member Associations will also be the first step in introducing VAR across the continent.

As part of its roll out programme, CAF will be embarking on a continental drive of conducting CAF VAR Academy workshops across its Zonal Unions in the next few months where 180 referees are expected to be reached.

CAF VAR ACADEMY 2024 WORKSHOP DATES: 

ZONAL UNIONDATEHOST NATION
WAFU B01 – 08 SeptemberCote d’Ivoire
COSAFA11 – 19 SeptemberSouth Africa
UNAF22 – 27 SeptemberEgypt
CECAFA30 September – 05 OctoberTanzania
WAFU A12 – 17 OctoberSenegal

-CAF

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Governing Bodies

Nigeria Football Federation clocks 91 today, but they don’t believe in their age

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BY KUNLE SOLAJA.

Nigeria football governing body, the NFF is 91 years today and just nine years to clock a century. Unfortunately, the body does not believe in its age, but hold on to a faulty belief that it is 79 years old, but with no actual birthday.

Founded 1945 is gleefully displayed on the crest of the NFF. Yet, it is not possible to pin point which date in 1945 the body was founded in 1945. Sports Village Square’s research unveils documented as well as verifiable evidences that what is today’s NFF was founded in Lagos as NFA on 21 August 1933.

No official of the NFF has come forward to defend their claim of the body being ‘founded in 1945’.

Their assumption emanates from the fact that the national cup competition, now called President Federation Cup, began in 1945 as ‘Governor’s Cup’.

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This itself is a distortion of historical fact on Nigerian football as the first three editions of the competition was not even organised by the then NFA but by the Lagos and Districts Amateur Football Association (LDAFA) which is now Lagos Football Association.

Verified archival materials have confirmed that the Nigerian football governing body was founded on Monday 21 August 1933 at house number 42, Broad Street Lagos. The building still exist, even with the same address.

Also, all the facts on the actual foundation date of the football governing body still exist and verifiable at the Nigeria National Archives at the University of Ibadan and also at The FA offices in London.

Despite overwhelming and documented evidences, it has been very hard, if not impossible, to get official recognition for the foundation date of the NFF.

The foundation meeting was held that day at the 42 Broad Street, in Lagos. The building which still exists today was then known as Health Office.

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The founding officials were: Henry A. Porter as President while three Vice Presidents were appointed.

They were: Frederick Baron Mulford, Sir Adeyemo Alakija and Dr. Isaac Oluwole. The Secretary/Treasurer was James Mead who worked at UAC in Lagos.

The report of the foundation was published in the 25 August 1933 edition of the Daily Times.

Their first Annual General Meeting, as reported by  the Daily Times of February 22 1934, took place in Lagos on Monday 19 February 1934.

The meeting decided to seek affiliation with The FA in England. A check by the Sports Village Square at the offices of The FA in London was very revealing. The minutes of meeting of The FA on 4 June 1934 shows under item 10 that: “The Nigeria Football Association was admitted to membership under Rule 5 of the Rules of Association.”

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The affiliation was also reported in the Nigerian Daily Times edition of 14 September 1934. Reputable FA in England could not have registered a non-existing body.

The various regimes of the NFA/NFF since 2003 have found it difficult to accept and effect the actual foundation date of the body. They are more concerned about a perceived global backlash they could receive for just realising the actual birth date of the Nigerian football governing body.

Regarding the assumption that the national competition started in 1945 and linking that to the foundation of the football governing body is an assumption based on fallacy.

Documented evidences discovered by Sports Village Square point to the fact that the Governor’s Cup was not a product of the then NFA but that of the Lagos and Districts Amateur Football Association (LDAFA) which is today known as the Lagos FA, the oldest football association in Nigeria having been established in 1932 by Henry A. Potter, the same man who founded the NFA the following year.

One day, it shall come to pass when the true foundation date will be acknowledged.

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Governing Bodies

CAF’s sole surviving former president, Ahmad attending Hayatou’s funeral

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Former CAF President, Ahmad arrives Yaounde for the funeral of his predecessor.

There have been seven presidents of CAF since the continental body was created in 1957. Of the six former heads of the confederation, only Ahmad of Madagascar is alive.

As the sixth and just one-term president, Ahmad who recently completed his reduced ban of two years by FIFA/CAS is one of the dignitaries attending the funeral of Issa Hayatou in Cameroon this Friday.

Arrival of Issa Hayatou’s body from France

Funeral service for Hayatou at the Yaounde airport when the body arrived from Paris on Thursday

Long-time friend, Constant Omari arriving Yaounde for Hayatou’s funeral

Apart from other football chiefs – FIFA president Gianni Infantino and his CAF counterpart, Patrice Motsepe, also in attendance is Congolese Constant Omari who had been a long term ally of Hayatou.

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