Divine Oduduru Risks Six-Year Ban Over Alleged Anti-doping Rules | See Details

Nigeria Sprinter, Divine Oduduru has been hit with a suspension by the Athletics Integrity Unit for allegedly violating anti-doping rules.

The AIU confirmed this decision in a statement on its official website on Thursday, February 9th, 2023. According to the reports the Nigerian risk been ruled out of the game for at least six years.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has notified Divine Oduduru of two potential Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) and is seeking a six-year ban against the Nigerian.

These alleged violations came out from an AIU investigation based on information in a criminal charge brought against US-based “naturopathic” therapist Eric Lira, on 12 January 2022, by the United States Department of Justice under the Rodchenkov Act”.

The complaint against Lira provides specific information regarding persons identified as ‘Athlete 1’ and ‘Athlete 2’. In February 2022, a sole arbitrator of the AIU Disciplinary Tribunal concluded that they were “comfortably satisfied” that ‘Athlete 1’ was Oduduru’s team-mate, Blessing Okagbare, and banned her from the sport for ten years, which was increased to an 11-year ban in June 2022 following further charges brought by the AIU.