A court in Norway has found the former IBU president Anders Besseberg guilty in 9 out of 11 charges of corruption. He was sentenced to three years and one month in prison. The 78-year-old Norwegian is appealing the sentence.
In January, WADA removed North Korea from the global list of non-compliant signatories of the World Anti-Doping Code. The decision was based on a single mission inside the dictatorship in four years. Although, according to ITA the situation in North Korea raises "a number of legitimate concerns".
Is it still state doping in Russia under the supervision of the FMBA? Russian athletes are spoilt for choice between the carrot and the stick. Either they toe the FMBA line and compete, or face the wrath of the Russian state and expulsion from the sport.
In a crushing blow for Vladimir Putin's old-style propaganda system and its systematic doping of young athletes, figure skater Kamila Valieva has been handed a four-year suspension for her positive test in the run-up to the 2022 Winter Olympic in Beijing.
Anders Besseberg, former president of the International Biathlon Union, risks ten years in prison for corruption in a true Nordic Noir crime case that has exposed one of the largest sports scandals in the Nordic democracies in 25 years. Further investigations in other countries are still ongoing.
What we won’t miss: Sun Yang & an entourage that still has questions to answer over 2014 doping positive.
Kamila Valieva' doping case raised questions about a minimum age for Olympic athletes. The Games thrive on high-performing children – some of them so young that they are not even allowed to compete in the Youth Olympic Games. Children are vulnerable to authoritarian states chasing medals and glory.
For decades there has been speculation about information and possibly incriminating material on IOC members and other big names that might be stored in Moscow's secret service archives. If anyone had access to compromat, it was Vladimir Putin. The spying activities span half a century.
The second anti-doping violation committed by Chinese swim controversy Sun Yang has now led to a damning ‘guilty’ verdict for a third time, the latest and last Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruling having confirmed that the athlete must serve a penalty, now set at four years, three months.
IOC's WADA representatives Francesco Ricci Bitti and Patrick Baumann were accused of intimidating Beckie Scott at a 2018 meeting, where a decision was taken to reinstate RUSADA, despite Russia not meeting WADA’s requirements. So why did WADA’s investigation cost the insane amount of $1.6 million?
Thomas Bach has been re-elected as IOC President for a final term without any opponents or opposition. Using Bach’s doctoral thesis as a departure point, Jens Weinreich describes how constantly planning for the future has provided Bach with an unprecedented hold on power in the Olympic system.
Hacking implies criminality. Leaking implies opportunism. Whistleblowing implies heroism. A reflection on the subtle differences of publicising dirty dealings.
