Just In: Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan set to compete at 2023 World Athletics Championships, cleared of all charges
Tobi Amusan, the reigning world champion and record holder in the women’s 100m hurdles, has been granted permission to compete at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, which get underway this Saturday in Budapest, Hungary.
A panel of the Disciplinary Tribunal, by majority decision, has today determined that Tobi Amusan has not engaged in an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) of three Whereabouts Failures during a 12-month period, according to a tweet from the Athletics Integrity Unit on X (Twitter).
“AIU Head Brett Clothier has indicated the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) is disappointed by this decision and will review the reasoning in detail before deciding whether to exercise its right of appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) within the applicable deadline.”
Recall the 26-year-old athlete faced charges of three whereabouts failures, which constitutes an anti-doping rule violation for missing three out-of-competition tests within a 12-month period. Amusan had contested this charge.
Recent news from the Athletics Federation of Nigeria has confirmed that Tobi Amusan, the world record holder in the 100m hurdles, has been cleared of the charges. Consequently, she will now proceed to Budapest to defend the significant gold medal she earned last year at the 18th edition of the Championships.
This clearance provides Amusan with the opportunity to defend the only title in her career that she has yet to defend, following her successful retention of her Nigeria, African Championships, African Games, Commonwealth Games, and Diamond League titles.
Reports indicate that a tribunal of three arbitrators absolved Amusan of two out of the three missed tests, after the Nigerian athlete argued that the tester had not made sufficient efforts to locate her.
Notably, throughout this process, Amusan consistently maintained her innocence and stated that she is a clean athlete. She even mentioned on her Facebook page last month, “I have faith that this will be resolved in my favour and that I will be competing at the World Championships in August.”