SWITZERLAND: ATHLETICS - Laussane press conference by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to consider more flexible sanctions

Speaking at a conference in Laussane on Wednesday (January 24), WADA chairman Dick Pound said he would like to see lengthier bans for "systematic cheats" but also the possibility of reduced punishments for those who test positively accidentally. "We are looking for greater flexibility to both increase and decrease sanctions for doping. We want to have the flexibility without limiting any athlete's responsibility but the flexibility in cases that call for it to reduce the sanctions from a mandatory two year period. On the other hand, where we are dealing with systematic organised and serious doping we want the possibility to go beyond the current two years," Pound said. Under current anti-doping regulations, athletes who test positive for a substance or method in WADA's annually revised prohibited list receive a mandatory ban of two years unless they can prove they committed "no fault" or "no significant fault". "We are gonna take a into account on long term benefits of some doping methods when we asses sanctions. It is a little bit like the NFL player who used steroids was suspended for four games and he is now back playing and they still got the advantage of the steroids, and in our view, that is the kind of sanction that should possibly be increased because the advantage is carrying forward," said WADA chairman. The new proposals would give the authorities more leeway in cases where athletes appeared to have taken substances accidentally. "We are looking at finding ways to deal with the unreasonable delays in reaching decisions and where we find that a way of accelerating our opportunity to launch an appeal to the court of arbitration for sport. We are looking at the possibility of provisional sanctions becoming mandatory where a B sample confirms an A sample," said Pound. WADA director general David Howman said the two-year minimum ban would continue to apply for "serious" substances such as EPO and anabolic steroids. Lesser sanctions would only be possible for substances such as cannabis, which is included on WADA's "specified substances" list, and stimulants including amphetamines. WADA officials, who are due to address representatives of the individual Olympic sports federations on Thursday, said the proposals were part of ongoing discussions towards formal policy decisions at WADA's next World Conference in Madrid in November. WADA's support for longer bans follows similar calls by world athletics' governing body, the IAAF. "Governments are now figured out the economic importance of this sport drug market, is enormous. We were told by Interpol that the value of the sport drug market exceeds the combined economic value of marijuana, cocaine and heroin. It is huge," said Pound. At its own Lausanne meeting last October, the IAAF came out in tentative favour of four-year bans for "proven aggravated doping cases" and said it would hold a vote on the issue at its next Congress in August. "If there is however anything positive about more doping cases coming to light, it is that we are doing a better job of catching people. There is also more cooperation between governments and sport. But this is not enough to outweigh the negative trends. Methods and substances used in doping are becoming unfortunately more and more sophisticated. The networks that distribute them are more intricate and difficult to uncover. This is why the IOC will continue to give priority to anti-doping efforts and the work of WADA," said Jacques Rogge, IOC president.

ITN Source | January 25, 2007

Tags:. .cooperation. .confirms. .athletes. .formal. .delays