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World silver medallist Katir handed four-year ban

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World 5,000m silver medallist Mohamed Katir has received a four-year ban for tampering after he was found to have falsified travel documents submitted during an investigation into missed doping tests.

The 26-year-old Spaniard was suspended for two years by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) in February for missing three doping tests in 12 months.

But during its investigation the AIU discovered that on the date of one of those missed tests, 28 February 2023, Katir had altered his travel itinerary, boarding pass and booking confirmation in an attempt to mislead investigators who were looking into where he was that day.

The AIU requires athletes to log their ‘whereabouts’, external to assist unannounced out-of-competition tests.

The four-year ban will run concurrently with Katir’s previous sanction, extending his suspension until February 2028.

“There can be no doubt that the athlete put forward a false version of events and altered documents,” concluded the AIU’s disciplinary tribunal.

“He did so in order to persuade WA (World Athletics) that his filing failure on 28 February 2023 should not be treated as a whereabouts failure.”

Katir, who won World Championship bronze in the 1500m in 2022 and silver in the 5,000m in 2023, will miss the Worlds in Tokyo next year and Beijing in 2027.

The AIU asked for Katir’s results from 9 March 2023 onwards to be disqualified but that was rejected by the disciplinary tribunal because the timing of his whereabouts failure did not offer a “competitive advantage which affected his results”.

The head of AIU Brett Clothier said the ruling underscored the seriousness of tampering.

“Gone are the days in athletics when explanations offered in anti-doping cases are just accepted at face value,” said Clothier.

“Thanks to strong investment in investigations, since its inception in 2017, the AIU has prosecuted 25 tampering cases.

“The vast majority of our elite athletes respect the strict rules and processes of the sport and they should take heart at the action being taken to ensure a level playing field.”

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Havertz online abuse has terrible consequences – Arteta

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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says the online abuse of striker Kai Havertz and his wife has “terrible consequences” and needs to be “eradicated from the game”.

Havertz was criticised for his performance in Sunday’s FA Cup defeat by Manchester United, after he missed a glorious chance to win the game in normal time and then had his penalty saved in the shootout as United won 5-3 on penalties following the 1-1 draw.

The German’s wife Sophia shared screenshots of the “shocking” abuse she received on social media amid the game, including threats to the couple’s unborn child.

Arsenal have reported the abuse to the police and are working with a specialist data firm to identify the culprits, but Arteta says more must be done as he spoke before Wednesday’s north London derby against Tottenham.

“It’s incredible, honestly,” he said. “We really have to do something about it, because accepting that and hiding this has terrible consequences.

“It’s something we have to eradicate from the game because it’s so cynical and dependent to a result of an action.

“There is no other industry like this. When we played Ipswich on December 27, we won 1-0 and Kai Havertz scored. The whole stadium after that is singing the ‘Waka, Waka’ (his chant). That was 20 days ago. Where is the perspective?

“We are all responsible. That’s a really serious matter. It affects me. It affects him and everybody that is in the industry.

“We can accept it and say ‘that’s our job’, but there are certain limits and the line has to be drawn. We put a lot of attention on technology and what is next in football.

“What is next in football is that this should be prohibited. It cannot happen. That’s it.”

Meta, who own Instagram, removed the content for violating its policies.

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I will not be the coach of a Red Bull team – Klopp

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Jurgen Klopp says he has made a “clear commitment” that he will not become manager at one of the Red Bull clubs after starting his role as the organisation’s head of global soccer.

The former Liverpool manager was named in the role last year before officially starting at the beginning of 2025.

He has not had a managerial role since leaving Anfield last summer following a highly-successful nine year spell.

Klopp’s new role sees him take more of an oversight role across a number of clubs including RB Leipzig, Red Bull Salzburg and New York Red Bulls.

But when asked at a media conference on Tuesday whether he might be tempted back into day-to-day management if a role at one of the clubs becomes available, Klopp said emphatically said “no”.

“I will not be the coach of a Red Bull team,” he said. “That is a clear commitment. As much as you can give a guarantee, I will not be a coach at all.

“I am probably the only person in this room who will be asked where are you in five years, I don’t have a clue.

“But I will not be a replacement of one of the Red Bull coaches.

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Rising star Fonseca knocks out ninth seed Rublev

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Joao Fonseca had a Grand Slam debut to remember as he knocked out ninth seed Andrey Rublev in the first round of the Australian Open.

The 18-year-old Brazilian thrilled the crowd as he caused the biggest upset of the tournament so far with a 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 7-6 (7-5) victory against Rublev.

Fonseca was playing in his first main-draw match at a major, having come through three rounds of qualifying without dropping a set in Melbourne last week.

The victory extends his winning streak to 14 matches – but who is tennis’ latest rising star?

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