Play the Game and the Danish Institute for Sports Studies can now reveal the title and themes for this year’s Play the Game conference, taking place in Aarhus, Denmark from 28-31 October 2013.

Only a few months after establishing the International Cycling Union Independent Commission (UCIIC) to look into the allegations set forward against the UCI in the USADA report, the UCI has disbanded the commission in exchange for a truth and reconciliation process.

The Independent commission set up by the UCI has decided to hold a public hearing on a truth and reconciliation process for witnesses. The news about the hearing comes after both WADA and USADA decided not to support the commission’s work without a change in the commission’s terms of reference.

The sanction length and criteria for the prohibited substance list will be in the centre of discussions in the lead up to the adoption of a new World Anti-Doping Code later this year, David Howman, Director General of WADA, predicts in the second of two parts of an exclusive interview with Play the Game.

Last year’s Armstrong case shows that science alone cannot solve the doping problem in sport. Anti-doping organisations must put more focus on gathering evidence, David Howman urges in this first part of an extensive Play the Game interview with the WADA Director General. But trying to replace the police could be fraught with disaster, he warns.

Comment: There have been talks about setting up a match-fixing’s counterpart to WADA. Can SportAccord be a key player is this with the UCI top in its council, Andreas Selliaas asks in this comment piece, arguing that there might be a credibility issue due to the revelations and allegations following the Armstrong case.