On this day in 1994, the former 800m Olympic runner and Commonwealth Games Gold Medalist Diane Modahl was found guilty of using performance enhancing drugs and banned for four years.
Modahl declared her innocence and a year later won her appeal to the British Athletics Federation (BAF) and in 1996 was cleared of the charges brought against her by the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF). It ruled that her sample had been mishandled.
Modahl subsequently pursued a civil claim against the BAF without success which resulted in her personal bankrupy and the demise of the governing body.
It was against this backdrop that the Sports Dispute Resolution Panel (SDRP) (later renamed Sport Resolutions (UK)) was created by the representative umbrella groups of sport in the United Kingdom to provide an expert, speedy, and cost-effective alternative to resolving conflict and disputes in sport.
Photo Author: University of Salford Press Office
