Centrefield successfully represented British sprinter CJ Ujah following his Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics (held on 23 July to 8 August 2021) after the men’s 4x100m relay final on 6 August 2021.
The disciplinary proceedings which concluded recently involved a lengthy two-stage process.
On 18 February 2022, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland, ruled that CJ Ujah had committed an ADRV under the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Anti-Doping Rules, which resulted in the disqualification of the Great Britain team in the men’s 4x100m relay final on 6 August 2021 and the forfeiture of their silver medals.
Following the conclusion of the disciplinary proceedings before CAS, the case was then referred to the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), on behalf of World Athletics, to determine CJ Ujah’s period of suspension.
The AIU and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) were satisfied that the ADRV was not intentional after CJ Ujah successfully established that the cause of the ADRV was the result of his use of a contaminated supplement. This meant that what could potentially have been a much longer suspension (4 years) was reduced to 22 months on account of the evidence put before the AIU and CJ Ujah’s co-operation throughout the disciplinary process. The period of suspension was backdated to the date of the test on 6 August 2021 so that CJ Ujah will be free to compete from 6 June 2023.
Centrefield is pleased to have acted for CJ Ujah in what has been a very difficult time for him, and we wish him well on his return to athletics in 2023.
CJ commented: “I would like to say a huge thank you to the team at Centrefield for all their work in connection with my case. Their expertise and experience has been invaluable to me throughout the process and was crucial in obtaining this outcome.”
Centrefield has considerable experience of advising clients in respect of all aspects of anti-doping matters, including anti-doping investigations and proceedings, whereabouts filing failures, alleged missed tests and anti-doping compliance. For more information, please contact info@centrefield.law or telephone 0161 672 5450.