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Divine Oduduru claimed innocence during the trial, but the Disciplinary Tribunal didn;t agree to his claims.
Divine Oduduru claimed his innocence during his trial with the World Athletics Disciplinary Tribunal as his lawyers argued that he was the victim of a conspiracy to implicate him.
Sadly, the panel didn't accept this as the core of the Athletics Integrity Unit's (AIU) case were WhatsApp messages between Blessing Okagbare and Lira, which revealed Okagbare soliciting Prohibited Substances on Oduduru’s behalf, and photographic evidence of multiple Prohibited Substances discovered in Oduduru’s Florida apartment.
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"The panel found Oduduru guilty of Possession of a Prohibited Substance or a Prohibited Method under Rule 2.6 of the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules (ADR) and of Attempted Use of a Prohibited Substance or a Prohibited Method (ADR 2.2), together treated as a single first violation," stated the press release by the AIU.
“To procure those substances, he engaged into a scheme with his teammate who in her turn was procuring those substances on his behalf from a person who was illegally bringing them to US in order to distribute among athletes with the aim to improve their sport performance, thus influencing unfairly the outcome of athletic competitions, including the major ones. The Panel considers this behaviour to be particularly serious,” read the decision.
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07:34 - 13.10.2023
Divine Oduduru: AIU slams former Nigerian champion with 6 years ban for attempted use of prohibited substances
Divine Oduduru has officially been banned from competing actively in athletics by the AIU for the attempted use of a prohibited substance.
Given these Prohibited Substances found in Oduduru’s apartment, when and where they were found, and the fact that he had exclusive control of the apartment, the panel concluded that Oduduru was in constructive possession of those substances.
“The Panel finds it to be an extraordinary coincidence that all the Prohibited Substances found in the Athlete’s apartment were precisely those requested from Mr. Lira by Ms. Okagbare for her and “Divine”, specifying that she had to give (to Divine) his stuff too and for which she tested positive (EPO and hGH),” asserted the Panel.
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20:50 - 11.10.2023
Tobi Amusan: World Athletics snubs Nigeria's track queen for Women's Athlete of the Year Award
World Record holder Tobi Amusan was snubbed for this year's World Athletics Women's Athlete of the Year Award.
While the panel did not uphold the AIU’s charge against Oduduru of Use of a Prohibited Substance or a Prohibited Method, it was satisfied that he had engaged in conduct that constituted a substantial step in a course of conduct planned to culminate in the Use of a Prohibited Substance and therefore upheld the Attempted Use charge.
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17:37 - 10.10.2023
Blessing Okagbare: Former track queen solicits support for young athlete needing to save his dad's life
Blessing Okagbare has made a life-saving special request on her 35th birthday.
The 27-year-old who was initially provisionally suspended by the AIU in February concerning Blessing Okagbare's doping scandal case, in which he was alleged to be 'Athlete 2', has now been slammed with a six-year ban for attempted use of prohibited substances.
"12 OCTOBER 2023, MONACO: Divine Oduduru has been banned for six years by a three-member Disciplinary Tribunal for committing two Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) of Possession of Prohibited Substances and the Attempted Use of a Prohibited Substance or Method and ordered to pay World Athletics US$3000 towards its expenses regarding the case.
The ban takes retroactive effect from 9 February 2023 – the date on which the Nigerian sprinter’s provisional suspension began – and runs until 8 February 2029, while all his results from July 12 2021 until the date of his provisional suspension have been disqualified," wrote the AIU.
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