SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has approved a new equestrian law which aims to combat illegal substances being used in horse racing and its associated racing events.
The law has been directly approved by Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan President of the UAE, who wants to promote legitimate racing and eliminate potential corruption and fraud.
The new law will force trainers or owners to seek approval from UAE racing authorities before injecting race horses with any medical or performance substances. The UAE further confirmed that its state racing authorities had updated the list of banned substances for horse racing permitted in the region.
The UAE will further toughen its punishment with regards to violating UAE state racing standards and for those found guilty of racing fraud and corruption. The equestrian law could see offenders banned from UAE sports participation for up to three years, and furthermore associated training establishments operating within the UAE closed by the authorities.
The implementation of the new law follows racing corruption cases affecting Godolphin stables in 2013 which shocked UAE governance, when 18 horses failed anabolic tests. 2014 saw ban of Godolphin’s former trainer Mahmood al-Zarooni by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), after being found guilty of administering anabolic steroids at stables in Newmarket.
