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FIFA

Olympic chiefs call for global drug-testing body

At a meeting in Lausanne on Saturday, Olympic chiefs called on the World Anti-Doping agency to create a new drug testing body and called for sport's top court to rule on doping sanctions.

Olympic chiefs call for global drug-testing body
IOC President Thomas Bach (L) shakes hands with IOC Director General Christophe De Keeper at the anti-doping summit. Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/ AFP
The proposals to overhaul the global anti-doping fight were made at a high-stakes International Olympic Committee (IOC) summit in Lausanne that sought to chart a path forward following a damaging crisis triggered by the Russian cheating scandal.
 
IOC President Thomas Bach had argued that a spate of recent scandals proved international sports federations had far too much power in the anti-doping fight, with their effectiveness often limited by conflicts of interest.
 
In a statement issued after the summit, IOC leaders called for the creation “of a new anti-doping testing authority.”
 
That body will be created by WADA, with the Montreal-based organisation retaining supervision and compliance powers in the anti-doping effort.    
 
The proposals must still be approved at WADA's meeting next month and by the IOC's full executive board, which meets next in December.
 
Additionally, the summit said the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) should take primary responsibility for ruling on all doping sanctions. That job has also been led by sports federations with athletes taking their case to CAS on appeal.
 
In a conference call after the meeting, Bach noted that CAS was “already involved” in most doping cases through the appeals process. He has previously argued that giving CAS the primary role on deciding doping sanctions would increase transparency and consistency within the global anti-doping effort.
 
In a clear indication that the IOC wanted to limit the role of federations, the summit resolved “to make anti-doping testing independent from sports organisations.”
   
Saturday's outcome will be seen by some as a victory for WADA, after its relationship with the IOC hit historic lows ahead of this summer's Rio Games.
   
Some IOC leaders accused WADA of reacting too slowly to evidence that Russia was running a massive state-sponsored doping programme and questioned the agency's governance.
 
WADA countered that it has been left dangerously under-resourced. But by maintaining its supervisory role in the global anti-doping fight and by leading the effort to forge a new testing authority, WADA has been assured
a crucial role moving forward.
   
“I'm very happy with it,” WADA chief Craig Reedie said after the meet. The recommendations “will strengthen WADA. We're to be given substantial additional authority and substantial additional power, so I'm perfectly happy with that,” he added.

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FOOTBALL

Trial over 2006 German World Cup corruption opens in Switzerland

Three former German football officials and ex-FIFA Secretary General Urs Linsi went on trial on Monday in Switzerland over suspicions that Germany bought votes to obtain the 2006 World Cup.

Trial over 2006 German World Cup corruption opens in Switzerland
Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP

The three defendants have indicated that they will not be present at the hearing in Bellinzona for a variety of reasons, including fear of travelling because of coronavirus contagion.

Swiss Linsi, 70, former German Football Association (DFB) presidents Wolfgang Niersbach, 69, and Theo Zwanziger, 74, and 78-year-old former DFB General Secretary Horst R. Schmidt are being prosecuted for “fraud”.

They are accused by the Swiss Federal Prosecutor's Office (BA) of concealing from the DFB the true destination of a transfer of 6.7 million euros ($7.6 million today), paid in 2005 by the organising committee to former Adidas boss, the late Robert Louis-Dreyfus, via FIFA.

The case of former World Cup organising committee chairman Franz Beckenbauer is being heard separately because of the former Germany captain's poor health.

The investigation was prompted by a report in German publication Der Spiegel in 2015 that Germany had used a secret fund of 10 million Swiss francs (6.7 million euros at the time) to buy votes and obtain the rights to host the competition at the expense of South Africa.

Beckenbauer is suspected of having asked Louis-Dreyfus, to contribute to this fund shortly before the vote on the host in the summer of 2000.

Louis-Dreyfus was allegedly reimbursed by the German Football Association on the pretext of expenses related to a FIFA gala evening, which ever took place.

Zwanziger, Niersbach and Schmidt have also been charged with tax fraud in Germany and the case is expected to come to trial in the coming months. cpb/pb/td

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