Irish rap trio Kneecap have issued a statement following news that Liam O’Hanna had been charged with a terrorism offence relating to displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah at a gig in London last November. The star, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, has been charged for his actions, the Metropolitan Police said.
The Met Police said the 27-year-old band member from Belfast has been charged following an investigation by its counter terrorism command. He is scheduled to appear at Westminster Magistrates ‘ Court on June 18.
Liam was charged with displaying a flag at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, North London, on November 21, “in such a way or in such circumstances as to arouse reasonable suspicion that he is a supporter of a proscribed organisation”, it said.
Liam O’Hanna has been charged with a terrorism offence relating to displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah (Getty Images for Tribeca Festiva)
In a post on X the band, which consists of fellow members Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaig, shared a video of Liam speaking in an RTE clip. They said: “Recorded in January and just aired on RTE tv now”.
They then quoted what Liam said in the video: “I don’t want to be 80, 90 years of age and my grandkids asking me about the Palestinian genocide? Me sitting there being like f**k, I didn’t do enough. I don’t wanna be on that side of history. If it comes down to awards or breaking America by sacrifice what you believe in, then America can go f**k itself”.
The band added: “We are clearer than ever on who we are and what we stand for. We will have a short statement soon. FREE PALESTINE”.
Previously, the rap trio had seen gigs including a performance at the Eden Project in Cornwall on July 4 cancelled after historic concert footage appeared to show a member of the group shouting “up Hamas, up Hezbollah”, and another video allegedly showing one calling for Conservative MPs to be killed.
The group has faced an investigation by counter-terrorism police after the videos, filmed in 2023 and 2024, became public.
Kneecap have apologised to the families of murdered MPs, but claimed footage of the incident had been “exploited and weaponised”, while they also said they have “never supported” Hamas or Hezbollah, which are both banned organisations in the UK.
The trio added: “To the Amess and Cox families, we send our heartfelt apologies, we never intended to cause you hurt”.
Campaign Against Antisemitism, which reported Kneecap to counter-terrorism police, posted on X: “We are pleased to see the police have acted swiftly. In the UK, Hamas and Hizballah are both terrorist organizations that are prohibited. The law must be upheld.
In a post on X, Sinn Fein MP for West Belfast Paul Maskey described the action as “outrageous.”
He stated, “Genocide is looming before our eyes.” Gazan children are being starved to death. A genocidal, out-of-control Israeli regime slaughters entire families. However, British police are charging Kneecap with exposing this genocide. “Outrageous” !
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Johannesburg, South Africa – When the millionaire mining magnate-turned-president of South Africa landed in Washington to meet the billionaire real estate tycoon-turned-president of the United States, it was with a deal in mind.
Tensions have been escalating between the US and its African trade ally since Donald Trump took office this year, cut off aid to South Africa, repeated false accusations that a “white genocide” is taking place there and began welcoming Afrikaners as refugees.
At the meeting between Trump and Cyril Ramaphosa in the White House on Wednesday, the South African president began by focusing heavily on trade and investments, highlighting the two countries’ years of cooperation, in keeping with statements made by South Africa’s presidency that Ramaphosa would present a trade deal to the US.
But Trump responded with a well-prepared redirect that South African media and analysts described as an “ambush” and a move that “blindsided” Ramaphosa.
Ready with printouts of news articles about alleged white victims of killings in South Africa and a video of firebrand opposition politician Julius Malema singing Kill the Boer, Trump insisted that white farmers were being targeted and murdered – an assertion Ramaphosa politely yet firmly denied, saying criminality was a problem for all South Africans regardless of race.
The team Ramaphosa assembled to join him on his working visit – which included four white South Africans: two golf legends, the wealthiest man in the country and the agriculture minister – all reaffirmed Ramaphosa’s facts that while violence was widespread, white people were not specifically being targeted.
“We have a real safety problem in South Africa, and I don’t think anyone wants to candy-coat that,” said John Steenhuisen, the agriculture minister and a member of the Democratic Alliance party, which is part of South Africa’s governing coalition.
“Certainly, the majority of South Africa’s commercial and smallholder farmers really do want to stay in South Africa and make it work,” the minister, who is himself an Afrikaner, said. Trump claimed that “thousands” of white farmers were fleeing South Africa.
Steenhuisen added that the people in the video Trump showed were leaders of opposition minority parties and his party had joined forces with Ramaphosa “precisely to keep those people out of power”.
From second left, businessman Johann Rupert speaks next to golfers Retief Goosen and Ernie Els in the Oval Office during a meeting between US President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on May 21, 2025. [Kevin Lamarque/Reuters]
‘The lion’s den’
The meeting began cordially where Trump complimented South African golfers, including well-known Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, who were part of the delegation. They both implored Trump for enhanced trade to uplift South Africa’s economy.
Also in the delegation was South Africa’s richest man, Johann Rupert, a luxury-goods mogul and an Afrikaner. He countered claims of racial persecution against the white minority, saying that while criminality was rife, Black people were more often the victims.
“We have too many deaths, but it’s across the board. It is not only white farmers,” Rupert said to Trump.
Ramaphosa kept his cool, local media and observers said, noting that the South African president chose to remain calm, patient and light-hearted even in light of Trump’s attack.
He steered talks back to trade, saying South Africa needed economic investment from its allies, and mostly sat expressionless while the video was played, occasionally stretching his neck to look at it.
Ramaphosa went into “the lion’s den” and was met with an ambush but he remained calm, South African political analyst Sanusha Naidu said.
“Ramaphosa and the delegation did not allow themselves to be baited into an emotional response. That’s critical. They made Trump feel like he had the upper hand in the meeting,” she told Al Jazeera, adding that given the narrative from Trump before Ramaphosa’s arrival, it “could have gone worse”.
When asked by a reporter whether he wanted the impasse between the US and South Africa resolved, Trump said he was open to it.
“I hope it has to be resolved. It should be resolved,” he said, adding that if it were not resolved, it would be “the end of the country”.
‘Reset’ relations
Before the two leaders met on Wednesday, Ramaphosa’s office said the aim was to “reset” relations, especially as the US is South Africa’s second largest trading partner after China.
“Whether we like it or not, we are joined at the hip, and we need to be talking to them,” the South African president said before his trip.
Christopher Isike, a political scientist at the University of Pretoria, told Al Jazeera that direct engagement between the leaders was important, given the tense relations between their countries.
“This is an opportunity for South Africa to correct misinformation peddled by President Trump and try to reset trade relations between the two countries,” he said.
Isike noted that both presidents’ backgrounds as businesspeople could provide common ground for discussing mutually advantageous deals.
“Rich friends of Ramaphosa are also rich friends of Trump, and that may have helped facilitate the meeting,” Isike added.
Common ground and level heads would be useful as the leaders continued private talks away from the media on Wednesday, observers said.
Before the visit, Ramaphosa maintained that while Trump was a dealmaker, he too was adept at making deals and even joked about the possibility of playing a round of golf with his US counterpart.
Washington, however, has criticised Pretoria for a host of matters since Trump took office. This continued in the meeting on Wednesday.
Trump focused on the white farmers, particularly Afrikaners – the descendants of mainly Dutch settlers who instituted apartheid. He alleged they are being killed because of their race despite evidence showing that attacks and killings are common across all groups in the country.
Trump also mentioned South Africa’s land reform law that allows land in the public interest to be taken without compensation in exceptional circumstances in an effort to redress apartheid injustices. Pretoria said no white land has been taken, but the US said the law unfairly targets minority white South Africans who are the majority landholders.
Despite Pretoria consistently seeking to rectify false assertions, the Trump administration has pushed ahead with a plan to take in Afrikaners as refugees. The first group arrived last week. He has also cut aid, including vital support for life-saving HIV programmes, to South Africa.
Additionally, there are worries that Trump may not attend the Group of 20 summit being held in South Africa in November and his government may not renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), key US trade legislation that assists economies in sub-Saharan Africa. It expires in September.
South Africa native Elon Musk attends the meeting between US President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office [Kevin Lamarque/Reuters]
Trade and investments
Before Wednesday’s meetings, Ramaphosa said strengthening trade relations between the two countries was his primary motivation for travelling to Washington, DC.
“We want to come out of the United States with a really good trade deal, investment promotion. We invest in the United States, and they invest in us. We want to strengthen those relations. We want to consolidate relations between the two countries,” he said.
This week, South Africa’s ministers of trade and agriculture, Parks Tau and Steenhuisen, met with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to present the first draft of a trade deal.
In 2024, total goods trade between the US and South Africa amounted to $20.5bn. This included $5.8bn in US exports to South Africa and $14.7bn in South African exports to the US.
However, some observers said that at the heart of the potential trade deal is what South Africa could offer billionaire and close Trump ally, Elon Musk, given his ongoing claims about obstacles he allegedly faces in operating Starlink, his satellite internet company, in the country where he was born due to its transformation laws.
These laws seek to redress past injustices that kept Black people destitute and require businesses over a certain size to have a 30 percent equity stake held by members of previously disadvantaged groups.
Speaking at the Doha Economic Forum on Tuesday, Musk reiterated his assertions about laws he claimed were biased against white people despite experts explaining that most of those only seek to promote racial justice.
“All races must be on equal footing in South Africa. That is the right thing to do. Do not replace one set of racist laws with another set of racist laws, which is utterly wrong and improper,” Musk said.
“I am in an absurd situation where I was born in South Africa but cannot get a licence to operate Starlink because I am not Black,” he claimed.
Before Wednesday’s meeting, a White House official told the Reuters news agency Trump is likely to tell Ramaphosa that all US companies in South Africa should be exempt from “racial requirements”.
Opposition figure Malema’s party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), threatened legal action after news that the government was considering offering regulatory assurances to Musk’s Starlink. The EFF said the move would be unconstitutional and shows Ramaphosa is willing to compromise the country’s sovereignty to “massage the inflated ego of Musk and Trump”.
Isike said that while trade concessions would be discussed, he doubted the South African government would give up its laws to appease Musk.
“I will be surprised if Starlink gets its way by refusing to follow South African transformation laws, which require 30 percent Black ownership of a foreign company,” he said.
During his meeting with Ramaphosa, US President Donald Trump shows a copy of an article that he said is about white South Africans who had been killed [Kevin Lamarque/Reuters]
‘Genocide’ claims
Meanwhile, in private talks, Ramaphosa and Trump were also expected to discuss foreign policy issues, including peace prospects between Russia and Ukraine and South Africa’s support for Palestine and its genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Some political observers said Pretoria is in the US crosshairs partly because of its actions against the key Washington ally.
Patrick Bond, a sociology professor at the University of Johannesburg, predicted before the talks that the US might offer to retract claims of “white genocide” in exchange for South Africa dropping its case at the ICJ.
South Africa is seeking to hold Israel accountable for its assault on Gaza, which has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians since October 2023. The US is Israel’s strongest ally and arms supplier.
“We are very rational when it comes to discussing global and geopolitical matters. We will put South African positions first, and our foreign policy positions will be clarified,” Ramaphosa said before the meeting.
As the Gaza genocide case against Israel continues in The Hague, US allegations of a widely discredited “white genocide” in South Africa continue to follow the country’s leadership.
Before Trump and Ramaphosa retreated to private meetings on Wednesday, a reporter asked the US president if he had decided whether genocide was being committed in South Africa. “I haven’t made up my mind,” he replied.
The unfounded claim of white genocide has “taken on a life of its own”, analyst Paolo von Schirach, president of the Global Policy Institute in Washington, DC, told Al Jazeera.
It will be difficult for Ramaphosa and Trump to rebound after the Oval Office “ambush”, he said.
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Ffion Wynne
BBC Sport journalist at Canterbury
48 Comments
First T20, Canterbury
West Indies 146-7 (20 overs): Matthews 100* (67); Bell 2-29
England 150-2 (16.3 overs): Dunkley 81* (56); Fletcher 1-27
England won by eight wickets; lead series 1-0
England’s new era under captain Nat Sciver-Brunt and coach Charlotte Edwards started with a comfortable eight-wicket win in the first T20 against West Indies in Canterbury.
The tourists posted 146-7 after captain Hayley Matthews’ superb unbeaten century, but England made light work of the chase by reaching the target in 16.3 overs thanks to Sophia Dunkley’s brilliant 81 not out from 55 balls.
Sciver-Brunt fell for a duck in her first match as permanent skipper, but her predecessor Heather Knight finished 43 not out alongside opener Dunkley.
Matthews’ sensational solo effort held West Indies together, with Mandy Mangru’s 17 the second-highest score after they had slipped to a dismal 87-6.
She reached her 67-ball ton from the final ball of the innings, having expertly farmed the strike as the wickets tumbled around her, with England’s Lauren Bell taking 2-29.
England’s new-look bowling attack after their Ashes humiliation included a recall for fast bowler Issy Wong, who took 1-35, while fellow seamer Em Arlott performed admirably with 1-28 on her international debut.
Revived England complete clinical chase
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The fallout from England’s 16-0 thrashing in the Ashes that started the year resulted in a new captain and coach, and constant references to starting with a clean slate.
England were presented with a below-par target, but delivered on their promises at the first time of asking.
Opener Danni Wyatt-Hodge, dropped from the ODI side, only managed 17 but Dunkley continued her fine form from the winter when she was one of England’s rare bright sparks in a miserable campaign.
West Indies bowlers struggled for consistency on a chilly evening, offering far too much width as she dominated through the covers and down the ground with 12 fours in her knock.
Meanwhile Knight looked rejuvenated without the shackles of captaincy, seemingly happy to support Dunkley’s attacking approach as she kept to a simple plan of rotating the strike and punishing the bad balls in their unbroken stand of 94.
West Indies offered little threat with the ball, with their spin-heavy attack struggling to extract any help from the surface.
Matthews magic a class apart
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With injuries to three of West Indies’ other experienced batters in Deandra Dottin, Chinelle Henry and Stafanie Taylor, the pressure on Matthews shoulders was even greater than usual.
Given their depleted resources, the tourists started cautiously and crawled to 37-2 from the powerplay after Bell’s double-wicket maiden in the fourth over, with opener Qiana Joseph dismissed for two and Zaida James caught behind for a duck.
Wong and Arlott bowled with lively pace and bounce to unsettle the middle order, while the spin of Charlie Dean and Linsey Smith stifled them to ensure that England did not miss Sophie Ecclestone too much – and at 87-6 in the 14th over, the tourists’ innings looked to be stuttering to a sorry end.
But Matthews was unfazed, familiar with the role of carrying her team’s batting line-up. She was dropped by Charlie Dean on 73, albeit a very difficult one-handed chance at cover, but was otherwise sublime.
Any width was greeted by her trademark elegant drives and she struck the spinners firmly down the ground, the only partnership of note coming for the seventh wicket as she shared a stand of 47 with Mangru.
Starting the final over on 89, Matthews struck a four off Bell before having to turn down singles to keep herself on strike. A wide gifted an extra ball, and a scampered single saw her reach her third T20 century.
‘Calm and calculated’ – reaction
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England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, speaking to Sky Sports: “Happy days, I didn’t have to do anything!
“Hayley [Matthews] is such a big player for them but stemming the runs by taking wickets at the other end was our method.
“Then that chase was calm and calculated. It was brilliant to watch.”
West Indies captain and player of the match Hayley Matthews: “It was a good day for myself but unfortunate not to get the win. We were 15 or 20 runs short.
“It is always pretty good to get a hundred. Hopefully, I can carry this form throughout this series.”
A member of the Irish rap group Kneecap was accused of “terrorism” in the United Kingdom for allegedly waving the Hezbollah flag at a concert in London in November 2024.
British police announced on Wednesday that Liam O’Hanna, who goes by the stage name Mo Chara, will appear in court on June 18 and is facing charges of terrorism.
Since the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023-led Hamas attacks and Israel’s devastating war on Gaza, Kneecap has been vocal in its support for the Palestinian cause, comparing struggles of the Irish and Palestinians under Israeli rule.
Pro-Palestinian chants are a regular feature at their shows. The band claims that their blatant condemnation of Israel’s genocidal war has drawn criticism.
KNEECAP DISCRETION:
We have been the target of a coordinated smear campaign since our statements at Coachella, which exposed the ongoing genocide against Palestinians.
We have used our shows to expose the complicity of the British and Irish governments in war crimes for more than a year. … pic. twitter.com/mBojb5QBOP
The Belfast trio is also well known for its satirical and political lyrics and use of symbolism in reference to the Irish Republican movement, which seeks to unite Northern Ireland, which is currently a part of the UK, with the Republic of Ireland.
During “The Troubles,” which included the Irish Republican Army (IRA), pro-British Loyalist militias, and UK security forces, more than 3,600 people were killed.
The term “kneecap” comes from a brutal punishment that paramilitary groups carried out on informers and drug dealers that involved being shot in the kneecaps.
The Irish-language cultural scene in Northern Ireland, where the status of the language is still a contentious political issue in a divided society between Protestant British Unionists and Catholic Irish Nationalists, has received praise from the band.
Additionally, its lyrics, which are full of expletives and drug references, have received criticism.
Kneecap’s performance at the California music festival Coachella attracted a lot of attention and criticism last month when they projected the words “F*** Israel.” Palestine that is free. on the ground.
“We were never bombed from the f****** skies with nowhere to go,” says one Brit who persecuted the Irish not very long ago. The Palestinians are bombing their home from the sky because they are unable to leave. What the hell are you calling it if you’re not referring to it as a genocide? read the Mo Chara projections.
Kneecap was brought under fresh scrutiny at the start of this month when UK intelligence announced that it would look into rap group comments regarding UK and Middle Eastern politics.
The band member said, “The only good Tory is a dead Tory,” according to footage from a 2024 concert. Your neighborhood politician should be dead. A member of the trio reportedly shouts “Up Hamas, Up Hezbollah” during a 2023 promotional video from another concert, which the UK views as “terrorist” organizations.
In response to the band’s criticism of Israel’s attacks on Palestinians in Gaza, Kneecap claimed it had “never supported Hamas or Hezbollah” and accused “establishment figures” of fabricating moral nonsense.
By signing Australia prop Angus Bell from Waratahs on a temporary deal, Ulster have made a serious statement of intent.
The 24-year-old loose-head will take a sabbatical from December until the campaign’s 2025-26 ends.
Bell is anticipated to play a significant role in Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies’ clash with the British and Irish Lions in this summer’s Australian Test series.
Since making his 2020 debut, Bell has won 36 caps for Australia. He missed the November Test against Ireland in Dublin because of illness, but his country kicked off against England, Wales, and Scotland.
He stated on Ulster’s website, “I’m very excited to be joining Ulster Rugby later this year and experiencing the game in a different hemisphere.”
“It was really inspiring for me to play in a brand-new environment and step outside of my comfort zone.” I was more excited to join such a historic club after speaking with [Ulster general manager] Bryn Cunningham about it.
“We have always said that we would look for opportunities in the market to add players to our team who can make a big impact,” Cunningham continued, “and Angus definitely fits that bill.”
He has a good age range and is currently one of the most exciting loose-head props in rugby.
Images courtesy of Getty
After taking a sabbatical, Bell’s contract will end in 2027, making a return to Waratahs.
Dan McKellar, the club’s head coach, described his decision to join Ulster as a “continued personal growth.”
He said, “We think the time at Ulster will be beneficial for his development on and off the field, which ultimately will help the Waratahs in the long term because he is a young man who came straight out of school into the Waratahs system.”
Bell’s arrival in Ireland in the second half of this year will continue the trend of short-term deals between southern-hemisphere players.
Jordie Barrett, a New Zealand international, joined Leinster in December, with his All Blacks team-mate Rieko Ioane expected to join at the end of 2025.
Bell’s short-term agreement was announced on the same day that Ulster “mutually consented” to the departure of New Zealand-born flyhalf Aidan Morgan.
At the end of the 2024-2019 campaign, Ulster signed South African back row Juarno Augustus from Northampton Saints, and the team also signed loose-head Andy Warwick.
When South Africa’s World Cup-winning loose-head Steven Kitshoff was brought to the province in 2022, he left after just one season. Kitshoff, however, did a major coup.
One of its athletes broke a long-standing world record, according to the Enhanced Games, a contentious new event that promotes banned performance-enhancing drugs.
Greece’s Kristian Gkolomeev, who was 20.89 seconds faster than Brazil’s Cesar Cielo in the 2009 world record, was reportedly 20.89 seconds faster in a 50-meter freestyle time trial in the US in February.
Gkolomeev, who finished fifth at the 2024 Olympics in 21.59, began taking banned substances after signing up for the Enhanced Games in January.
The Enhanced Games held its inaugural event from May 21 to May 24 in Las Vegas on Wednesday, at a glittery launch in the city.
It has been criticised for endangering athletes ‘ health and undermining fair play.
The world can now see what is possible, it says.
For his ‘ world record ‘ in North Carolina, USA, 31-year-old Gkolomeev was wearing a full-length polyurethane ‘ supersuit’, which was banned from competition by swimming authorities a few weeks after Cielo set the world record in one.
However, Gkolomeev swam 21.03 in textile “jammer” shorts in another attempt in April that were in line with current World Aquatic rules.
That time is faster than anyone else who has never used “supersuits,” surpassing the mark set by American nine-time Olympic champion Caeleb Dressel.
The Enhanced Games say the two times are legitimate, with Gkolomeev’s swims recorded using the same timing equipment deployed at the Olympics, staged at a certified pool which has hosted the past four US Open events, and overseen by experienced officials.
World Aquatics won’t accept any of the marks.
The world’s largest swimming organization stated in a statement that “the Enhanced Games are not a sporting competition built on universal values like honesty, fairness, and equity: they are a circus built on shortcuts.”
“The enduring power of athletes to serve as role models for children and adults alike relies on their talent, hard work, respect and friendship. That’s what we’ll continue to highlight in our champions and competitions.
“The Enhanced Games gave me the resources and the team to unlock a new level of performance – and now the whole world can see what’s possible”, said Gkolomeev, whose previous 50m freestyle best was 21.44, winning silver behind Britain’s Ben Proud at the European Championships in Edinburgh in 2018.
He added that his body type significantly altered after two weeks of doping before breaking Cielo’s record in February and then moving more quickly than Dressel in textile shorts in April.
He continued, “On the second attempt, I was on a two-month cycle.”
“I had an extra 10lbs of lean muscle – we did a pretty good job with my coach in that short amount of time to get used by my new strength and weight in the water. It came out very well.
According to the Enhanced Games, he did not disclose the substances he had consumed, citing personal privacy concerns and the possibility that others would abide by Gkolomeev’s rule. It said they were prescribed “medically and legally”.
According to organizers, participants are only permitted to use “medically prescribable and legally approved” substances while being watched clinically, and they are confident that they will follow US drug enforcement regulations.
Andrii Govorov, a 33-year-old world record holder in the 50 meters, and Josif Miladinov, a 21-year-old silver medalist in the 100 meters, both from Ukraine, have signed.
Govorov announced his retirement from Olympic sport this week.
He wrote on Instagram, “This choice wasn’t easy.
I spent a lot of time reflecting, putting everything on the scale, “. Competing in Los Angeles]in 2028] was my dream. However, “life had other plans.”
After critics argued that the Enhanced Games would struggle to persuade well-known names, who were still in their prime, to cross the line, Gkolomeev, Govorov, and Miladinov’s hiring is a coup for the organization.
Australian former world champion James Magnussen, 34, came out of retirement to join the Enhanced Games in 2024, but his attempt to beat the 50m freestyle world record fell well short, recording a best time of 22.73.
A 100-strong roster of participants for the upcoming Enhanced Games event is a goal for The Enhanced Games.
At Resorts World in Las Vegas, construction crews will construct a four-lane 50-meter pool, a six-lane sprint track, and a weightlifting facility.
Many people never get back to normal, according to the saying.
Senior anti-doping and sports administration officials have harshly criticized the Enhanced Games.
Travis Tygart, chief executive of the US Anti-Doping Agency, called it a “clown show” and the World Anti-Doping Agency described it as a “dangerous and irresponsible project”.
Executive director of World Aquatics, Brent J. Nowicki, described it as “a farce, and an extremely dangerous one,” praising those involved in the sport for life.
The UK Anti-Doping (Ukad) CEO, Jane Rumble, told BBC Sport, “We are really, really concerned by this concept.
” It flies in the face of everything Ukad stands for and it flies in the face of fair play.
“Any sporting event that promotes performance-enhancing drugs is ultimately dangerous and unhealthy for athletes.” Their well-being is not at stake.
” There are also much broader societal implications. Steroid use has been well documented to cause domestic violence and adversity in the nighttime economy.
According to a Ukad survey released this week, 85% of UK teenagers support outlawing athletes who use prohibited substances.
Rumble said Ukad is unaware of any British athletes being approached by the Enhanced Games, but is planning for the possibility.
She said, “We have clearly thought through that scenario.”
According to Jim McVeigh, professor of substance use and related behaviors at Manchester Metropolitan University, organisers’ promises about athletes’ safety were “informed or purposefully misleading.”
They are concentrating on power sports like swimming, lifting, and sprinting, and athletes will use anabolic agents for those activities, he told BBC Sport.
” Athletes won’t use just in the weeks before. These people will be training right away if the investment is $1 million. Organisers are they looking out for them? Have they started their supervision?
As a group of steroid users who started out in the 1990s reached a certain age, we have really improved our understanding of the long-term effects of steroid abuse in the last ten years.
The impact on the brain has a significant impact, despite the fact that there are effects on the cardiovascular system. Many people will never return to normal hormonal production and function.
“We are aware that people in the Enhanced Games are taking high doses because they are aware that everyone else is doing so.”
Officials from Enhanced Games claim that their event will be safer than traditional sport because they can use performance-enhancing drugs openly and under the guidance of doctors.
They point to a study of the 2011 World Athletics Championships where athletes ‘ responses to an anonymised survey suggested almost 44% had taken a banned substance in the previous year.
Kristian Gkolomeev, who is he?
Getty Images
In 1993, Gkolomeev was born in Velingrad, Bulgaria.
At the 1980 and 1988 Olympics in Seoul, his father, Tzvetan Golomeev, represented Bulgaria.
Gkolomeev’s mother died of medical complications shortly after his birth, and the family moved to Greece when he was young.
He won junior swimming titles at the age of five, won junior gold medals at the international and international levels, and competed in London 2012 as a teenager, placing him 31st fastest in the 100-meter freestyle.
Former British Olympic athletes Dennis Pursley and Jonty Skinner recruited Gkolomeev to the University of Alabama where he studied human performance and exercise science in addition to swimming after the Games.
He won two collegiate titles before beginning his professional career.
