South Korea ready to drug test World Cup stars
South Korean officials today said they were ready to carry out a tough drug testing policy during the World Cup, which kicks off there and in Japan at the end of this month.
Fifa, football’s governing body, wants to introduce blood tests at the tournament for the first time.
Fifa made the decision in March, but said there were ‘‘certain legal issues’’ that still had to be clarified.
South Korean organisers said today that they did not know if Fifa had resolved those issues - such as respecting the rights of players whose religion forbids them from having blood taken - but were ready to carry out the tests in any case.
‘‘Fifa notified us to prepare for blood tests. That was the latest we heard and we are fully prepared,’’ said Moon Jin-woong, an official in charge of medical issues for the South Korean World Cup organising committee.
Following doping scandals at Salt Lake City’s Winter Olympics in February, Fifa decided to step up efforts to eliminate the use of performance-enhancing drugs in football.
Fifa will test two players from each team, chosen randomly, immediately after matches. An independent team of doctors from Fifa and co-hosts South Korea and Japan will be in charge of testing urine or blood samples, Moon said.
Fifa did not say how the players found guilty of doping will be punished, he said. South Korea and Japan will each host 32 of the 64 matches of the May 31-June 30 tournament.
