Sports
Tobi Amusan’s doping scandal: The backstory and possible ban escape
Tobi Amusan broke the news herself.
She took to her social media pages to reveal she has been charged with an alleged anti-doping rule violation.
Amusan becomes the third Nigerian athlete to be provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), along with Divine Oduduru and Grace Nwokocha.
For Amusan, she is facing a two-year ban for missing three drug tests within a 12-month period.
The AIU requires athletes to upload information on their daily location and availability for testing, to the AIU’s Anti-Doping Administration and Management System (ADAMS).
“When the AIU testers get to a certain location and don’t see the athlete, they have to wait for one hour,” Funmilayo Fameso, the Senior Athletics, Pulse Sports, tells DAILY POST the backstory.
“During that one hour, they keep waiting and keep calling the athlete.
“When the athlete says ‘I will be there in 10 minutes’ and the one hour elapses without the person showing up, it is counted as a failed test,” he added.
Failure to provide accurate and timely information can result in sanctions.
The 26-year-old will know her fate before the World Championships in Hungary next month because, unlike her compatriots, she will have an accelerated hearing.
“I intend to fight this charge and will have my case decided by a tribunal of 3 arbitrators before the start of next month’s World Championships,” Amusan wrote in the Instagram post.
So what are the chances of the reigning women’s hurdles world record holder and champion beating the allegations?
Fameso explains further: “From what I know, during Tobi’s third missed test, the tester did not really do too much to confirm she was at that location.
“Tobi moved to another apartment and when the tester didn’t see her, he/she immediately said Tobi was not available for testing.
“Because of Tobi’s pedigree as a world champion, she is tested more than others – like she stated in her press release. There’s a rumour in the industry that she has been tested up to 20 times this year, of which she allegedly missed only two.
“So if the story of the third tester not doing enough to confirm her location is true, then she stands a high chance of escaping the ban.
“The jury or Court deciding the case will ask if the tester followed the right protocols before declaring it a missed test.
“But if the tester actually did everything right – got to the location, called her several times, etc – then Tobi may not have a case to answer.”
“We have seen the case when an American athlete, Gabrielle Thomas escaped a ban because the tester did not do enough,” Fameso added.
Liverpool winger, Mohamed Salah, on Saturday, surpassed Chelsea legend, Frank Lampard’s goal record in the Premier League.
The Egyptian international achieved the feat after scoring a brace in Liverpool’s away Premier League 2-0 win against Bournemouth.
The match was played at the Vitality Stadium as Salah netted a penalty in the first half and another goal in the second half.
Salah’s two goals means, the former Chelsea and AS Roma star has now surpassed Lampard as 6th all time goal scorer in Premier League history.
The 32-year-old now has 178 Premier League goals with a goal ahead of Lampard, who now sit in 7th position on the all-time Premier League goal scorers chat.
He is, however, behind the likes of Alan Shearer, Harry Kane, Wayne Rooney, Andrew Cole and Sergio Aguero in the goal chat.
Salah has scored 21 goals for the Reds so far this season.
He could leave Liverpool in the summer as he is yet to sign a new deal.
His contract with Arne Slot’s side will expire at the end of the season.
The Confederation of African Football, CAF, on Friday announced the full match schedule for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
Nine venues will be used across six cities for the continent’s flagship soccer event.
Hosts Morocco will will take on Comoros in the competition’s opening game at the newly-built 69,500-seater Complexe Sportif Prince Moulay Abdellah in Rabat on Sunday, December 21.
The country’s capital, Rabat, will have four match venues.
Other host cities are Casablanca, Agadir, Marrakech, Fes and Tangier, which will have one match each.
The four quarter-final fixtures will be played at the Sportif Prince Moulay Abdellah in Rabat, as well as in Tangier, Marrakech and Agadir.
The semi-finals will be in Rabat and Tangier, with the third-place play-off set for the Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca.
52 matches will be played during the biennial competition.
The Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire are the defending champions of the competition.
The draw for this season’s UEFA Champions League knockout phase play-off draw has been conducted on Friday.
Eight teams have progressed straight to the round of 16 following the completion of the league phase.
They are Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Lille and Aston Villa.
They will all return to the competition in March, but others have more football to play before then.
The teams that finished between 9th and 24th, have a two-legged play-off to navigate in February.
FULL KNOCKOUT PHASE PLAY-OFF DRAW
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Juventus vs PSV
Monaco vs Benfica
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Celtic vs Bayern Munich
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Club Brugge vs Atalanta
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