This article entitled “Figure skating minimum age raised to ‘historic’ decision ahead of 2026 Olympics,” published by NBC News via Reuters on June 7, 2022, covers the intentions behind the new International Skating Union (ISU) legislation. In response to the recent controversy surrounding Kamila Valieva
The Ad Hoc Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport issued its decision declining to impose a provisional suspension on Kamila Valieva, the Russian Figure Skater. The below reproduces the Court of Arbitration for Sports media release of February 14, 2022 in Beijing. Beijing, 14
Thauli Sports Law sends a heartfelt congratulations to all of our Canadian Athletes who competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. You made us proud to be Canadian! Canada forged a new medal record with 7 gold medals, 6 silver medals and 11 bronze medals. Team
The following article entitled "FEI Endurance Horse Abuse Case Overturned" was written by Christa Christa Lesté-Lasserre and posted on "the Horse - Your Guide to Equine Health Care" on May 7, 2021. Of particular note are the statements of Roly Owers, CEO of World Horse
The Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) issued the following media update on April 22, 2021 on Andrew Kocher's suspension of 10 years for using electric spurs on horses. The FEI Tribunal has suspended US Jumping athlete Andrew Kocher for 10 years and disqualified him from eight events between June
An investigation into the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) by University of Western Ontario law professor, Richard McLaren found the IWF was plagued by decades of corruption, doping coverups, favourtism, and financial mismanagement orchestrated by the IWF’s former president, Dr. Tamás Aján. The McLaren Report detailed the
On December 17, 2020, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) issued its decision in the arbitration between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA). CAS reduced the Russian doping ban from four years to two years in its decision. Russian
The following article entitled, "Strongest Sanctions in FEI history imposed in fatal Endurance case" was published on June 9, 2020 on horsetalk.co.nz. The final decision can be found here. Sh Abdul Aziz Bin Faisal Al Qasimi has appealed this decision to the Court of Arbitration
Pippa Cuckson wrote the following article entitled, "Level 4 Jumping Judge Demoted After Failing FEI's New Exam", which was published on April 15, 2020 on HorseSport.com. João Manuel Vieira de Moura, one of Portugal’s top-ranked FEI jumping judges, has unsuccessfully appealed against his demotion after failing
NSF International’s Certified for Sport program was created to meet the growing demands of athletes, coaches and all others concerned about banned substances in sports supplements. The scientists screen sports supplements for more than 270 banned or prohibited substances, including: narcotics, steroids, stimulants, hormones, and
Despite being legal in some parts of the world, cannabis continues to be listed as a prohibited substance by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and a positive test may result in a sanction. It's important to differentiate between THC, which is the strain in cannabis
The International Association of Athletics Federations (the IAAF) issued new DSD (Differences in Sexual Development) Regulations in April 2018. They govern eight races from distances of 400 metres to one mile and exclusively cover female athletes with "46 XY DSD", that is, women like Caster
On July 15, 2019, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) published its latest draft versions of the 2021 Code and International Standards. This summary outlines that the proposed changes will place an increased emphasis on health as a rationale for the Code. Substantial changes are also
On May 28, 2019, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) and the International Testing Agency (ITA) announced entering into a collaboration agreement intended to optimize their respective anti-doping programs through test planning, coordination, sample collection and information sharing, including intelligence and investigations. This partnership
On 30 April 2019, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) delivered an Award on the challenges brought by Caster Semenya and Athletics South Africa (ASA) to the validity of the International Association of Athletics Federations’ (IAAF) eligibility regulations on athletes with “differences of sexual
On May 7, 2019, AthletesCAN, in partnership with University of Toronto, released a detailed study called, The Prevalence of Maltreatment among Current and Former National Team Athletes. Maltreatment is an umbrella term that refers to: all types of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect, negligence
On April 25, 2019, the FEI Tribunal issued its final decision in Human Anti-Doping Case 2018/01 Paulo Sergio Mateo Santana Filho, Final Tribunal Decision dated 25 April 2019. The El Salvadoran athlete, Paulo Sergio Mateo Santana Filho was selected for in-competition testing on June 9, 2018
On March 13, 2019, the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada (SDRCC) announced the launch of a national toll-free sport helpline to offer assistance to victims or witnesses of harassment, abuse or discrimination. This anonymous, confidential and independent service will allow victims to share and
Kieran Paulson’s article called, FEI Suspends UAE Endurance Rider was published on March 7, 2019. Her article discusses the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) Tribunal’s finding after the British journalist Pippa Cuckson lodged a protest for horse abuse against Ali Mohammed Ali Al Hosani for striking
This article summarizes the changes have been made to the FEI Veterinary Regulations for 2019. It's important as riders to keep informed of all the changes to the FEI rules and regulations.
The FEI produced this Athlete's Guide to help athletes understand the key provisions of the Equine Anti-Doping and Controlled Medication Regulations. Since legal rules can be technical and confusing for non-lawyers, this Guide explains in plain English and without any legal jargon what athletes really
It’s official! I was elected on November 21, 2017 as the first Canadian to sit on the FEI Tribunal. The Tribunal decides on all cases related to sport rules, statutes, and general regulations. Congratulations also to Mark Samuels of Mississauga, Ontario who was unanimously elected as the
On September 1, 2015, the FEI issued the following press release from the FEI's President about the importance of the FEI Clean Sport campaign and the coming into force of the FEI's global Equine Anti-Doping and Controlled Medication Programme on January 1, 2016. FEI President Ingmar
Horse & Country posted this article called "FEI cancels endurance events in UAE" by Charlotte Ricca-Smith on February 27, 2015. It discusses the FEI's withdrawal from endurance races in the United Arab Emirates from its 2015 calendar. I am personally very pleased with the FEI's decision.
I will never understand how anyone can inflict pain and suffering or commit deliberate violence on a defenceless animal. Lately there has been several high profile dog abuse cases reported in the news, which got me thinking about and then researching cases involving horses. I
On July 3, 2013, I wrote about the importance of legal Waivers and how a stable owner or instructor can effectively minimize their risk by using them. In this article, I’ll cover some actual court cases that illustrate when the courts have and have not
There seems to be a general misunderstanding in the equine industry about the importance of legal Waivers and how they can protect you from costly liability claims. In my experience, most are poorly written and not enforceable in court, so even if you have a