have invoked civil law to contest the length of their bans.In countries such as Germany, Russia and Spain

Have the laws in Germany, Russia and Spain become more relaxed on the subject since 1997?

By David GoldDecember 1 - The United States Sports Academy (USSA) has announced its men's and women's shortlists for the Athlete of the Year Award, with LA Galaxy's David Beckham (pictured) among those in line to win the prize.

the announcement of the winners will be made on Christmas Day.Last year's winners were Barcelona and Spain

By Mike RowbottomAs Britain's male hockey players prepare for the Champions Trophy – a major step en route to London 2012 which gets underway in New Zealand on December 3 – the approach to the task being adopted by their coach Jason Lee involves more lines than Clapham Junction.Lee, a former GB player himself who has guided the team to ninth and fifth places at the last two Olympics, knows a squad which he describes as "probably the strongest ever" is within touching distance of a place on the podium at next year's Olympics. But he also knows that factors...

Britain have Australia, Spain and Pakistan in their group at the forthcoming tournament for the world's

By David GoldNovember 28 - Tickets for the London 2012 Olympic Games football tournament are going back on sale tomorrow with 1.5 million tickets available to the public for as little as £20 from 11am.

With teams like Spain and Brazil already qualified and fantastic venues across the country, the Olympic

In addition to World and European champions Spain, and likely favourites Brazil, four other nations are

By Tom DegunNovember 28 - Prime Minister David Cameron expressed his delight as London was today announced as the host of the 2012 Laureus World Sports Awards, the premier honours event in the international sporting calendar.

Rafael Nadal and America's Lindsey Vonn being named as the sportsman and woman of the year respectively, Spain

By Andrew WarshawNovember 25 - FIFA's medical chief, Jirí Dvorák (pictured), has called on anti-doping authorities not to take too hard a line against clenbuterol and to be more understanding about how and why the substance gets into the body.

argued since day one that traces of clenbuterol entered his system while eating steaks brought in from Spain

By Tom DegunNovember 20 - Rio de Janeiro have signed a two-year agreement to become the official tourism destination of the ATP World Tour in a deal which sees the Brazilian city made a platinum level sponsor of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, which take place at the O2 Arena in London this week.

features only the top eight players in the world including reigning Olympic champion Rafael Nadal of Spain

By David GoldNovember 20 - Great Britain has named an 18-man squad for hockey's Champions Trophy in Auckland, New Zealand, next month.

event in 2010.The Champions Trophy runs from 3-11 December, and Britain will be in Pool A along with Spain

semi-finals.Britain will play Pakistan on December 3, before facing Australia the following day and Spain

By David GoldNovember 18 - CONCACAF has signed agreements with Telemundo and Universal Sports Network to show both the continent's women's and men's 2012 Olympic football qualifying tournaments.

month between Trinidad and Tobago, Surinam, Cuba and St Kitts and Nevis.Hosts Britain, Brazil, Uruguay, Spain

By David GoldNovember 16 - The decision by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) to award Ireland the right to host one of three men's Olympic qualifying tournaments for London 2012 has been hailed as a massive boost for the sport in the country.

originally planned, at which the Irish women's hockey team will compete from March 17 until 25 against Spain

By Mike RowbottomNovember 15 - Edinburgh's Chris Sherrington (pictured) produced the performance of his lifetime – so far – as he won judo gold in the Samoa World Cup in the heavyweight (+100kg) category.

option of filling seven female and seven male places at the 2012 Games.Britain also earned success in Spain

By David GoldNovember 13 - The Argentinean women's hockey team have been granted a reprieve and a place at the London 2012 Olympic Games despite their defeat at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara last month.

Russia, Chile and Ukraine.Beerschot will stage the second women's competition, also in March, with Spain

hosts for a place in London.The final tournaments will both be in Kakamigahara, Japan, in April, with Spain

By David GoldNovember 10 - The Team GB men's football team will kick off their Olympic Games campaign at Old Trafford on July 26, 2012, the day before the opening ceremony of the London Games, then move on to play games in London and Cardiff, where they could receive a hostile reception. 

Cardiff.Some of the nations already qualified for the Olympics include the world and European champions, Spain

With teams like Spain and Brazil already qualified and fantastic venues across the country, the Olympic

It's not scoring that penalty against Spain in Euro 96.

than 250 key decision-makers from the 50 European Athletics Member Federations gathered at Arona, in Spain