The Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) has dismissed Athletics Integrity Unity’s (AIU) appeal against the clearance of Tobi Amusan’s anti-doping rule violation.

The court announced the decision in a statement published on its website on Friday.

In July 2023, AIU handed Amusan a provisional suspension for allegedly “missing three tests in 12 months”.

The case was transferred to a disciplinary tribunal. A month later, a “majority decision” of the tribunal ruled that the 27-year-old “has not committed an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) of three whereabouts failures within a 12-month period.”

Amusan was cleared of the charge by the disciplinary tribunal.

Later that year, AIU announced that it had filed an appeal against the tribunal’s decision before CAS.

In its ruling on the case, CAS judged that although Amusan “committed two filing failures,” the appellant “did not confirm the existence” of a third missed test “which would have been the third whereabouts failure committed within a 12-month period”.

The court ruled that the athlete did not violate any Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) rule and that the “challenged decision should be confirmed.”

“The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed the appeals filed by World Athletics (WA) and by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) against the decision issued on 17 August 2023 (the Challenged Decision) by the World Athletics Disciplinary Tribunal (WADT) in relation to the hurdler Oluwatobiloba (Tobi) Amusan (Nigeria),” the statement reads.

“In their respective appeal to CAS, WA and WADA had sought the imposition of a two-year period of ineligibility. The CAS Panel held a hearing on 19 January 2024. Having deliberated, the CAS Panel has issued its decision today dismissing both appeals. The CAS Panel unanimously acknowledged that the athlete committed two filing failures but did not confirm the existence of a missed test, alleged by WA and WADA, which would have been the third Whereabouts Failure committed within a 12-month period. Accordingly, the CAS Panel concluded that the athlete did not commit an ADRV and that the Challenged Decision should be confirmed.”

With the latest decision, Amusan is cleared and is expected to represent Nigeria at the Paris Olympics next month.

Peter Odemwingie, a former Super Eagles attacker, has joined the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA).

PGA announced the admission of Odemwingie into its ranks in a video on Tuesday.

The association is the body that organises tours for professional golfers around the globe.

Speaking on his induction, the former Super Eagles attacker said he fell in love with golf during the latter days of his football career.

He highlighted the difficulty of adapting to the “loneliness” of golf after his career in a “group sport”.

“I’m really proud of all of myself and my friends who are graduating today as well. It is a long journey. I fell in love with the game,” Odemwingie said.

“I play lots of pro-ams as an amateur. I am coming from a football background. I had a decent-level career in a group sport. Now I am in a different sport, sometimes you can be lonely in golf — just you and your caddie, if you have one.

“And seeing what the PGA professionals enjoy. I pass the playing ability test, I was accepted on the programme and I was excited that day as I am today.”

Odemwingie, born in Uzbekistan to a Russian mother and a Nigerian father, made his Super Eagles debut in 2002. He made 63 appearances for the men’s national team.

He featured for Nigeria in the 2014 World Cup, scoring against Bosnia Hezergovania in the group stage to secure the country’s promotion to the round of 16.

Odemwingie began his football career at Bendel Insurance before moving to Europe with La Louvre FC, then Lille and Lokomotiv Moscow.

He then joined West Brom, Cardiff City, and Stoke City in the English Premier League (EPL).

Odemwingie retired from football in 2019.

Denmark’s male footballers have refused a salary increase for playing for the national side to gain their female counterparts equal basic pay, the players’ union said on Friday.

“The men’s team chose not to ask for a salary increase … to improve the conditions of the women’s team,” union spokesperson Magnus Hviid told AFP.

He welcomed “an extraordinary measure to help take this small step in the right direction”, but acknowledged there were “still more glass ceilings to break to ensure equal opportunities and conditions within national teams”.

Hviid said the action “obtained the same basic salary for the women’s national team and the men’s national team, as well as better insurance coverage for the women’s team”.

The agreement, signed at the end of May, provides for identical match bonuses for women and men during away matches.

However for the moment due to no bonus for home matches, there remains a disparity in the overall pay between the women’s and men’s national teams.

The Danish Football Federation (DBU) and the union have agreed to bring forward negotiations on a new deal for the women’s national team after the summer break.

Denmark are competing in Euro 2024 and are joint second in Group C after two draws against England and Slovenia.