We will win war on drugs, insists Pound
Anti-doping chief Dick Pound has warned sport’s drug cheats the net is starting to close in on them.
Pound has endured a mixed month, combining satisfaction at the United States Track and Field’s relentless pursuit of the high-profile figures involved in the BALCO scandal with dismay at the outcome of an independent review into the case of seven tennis players who tested positive for nandrolone but escaped punishment from the ATP.
But overall, the chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency believes the battle is being won.
“We are not there yet,” he told BBC Radio Five Live’s Sportsweek.
“All we are starting to do is ratchet in the extremes of this. But it is a battle worth winning and we are not going to give in. Anyone in the business of cheating better take note – we are not going to get it right straightaway but we will get it right in the long run.”
World 100 metres record holder Tim Montgomery is among a clutch of athletes facing a ban following evidence gathered in a criminal investigation into the activities of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative even though he has never tested positive for any banned substance.
World 100m champion Kelli White tested positive for the stimulant modafinil, while this week 27-year-old sprinter Torri Edwards also confirmed she had tested positive for nikethamide, although she claims she took the substance unknowingly in a glucose tablet.
However, rather than take the view the publicity surrounding the athletes is bad for sport, the WADA chief thinks it should be seen as a positive, particularly as most of the finger-pointing in the past has come from the USA.
“In the past there has been a reluctance in the United States to acknowledge difficulties,” said Pound.
“Now there is terrific progress being made. You can never be sure that there are not people out there who will try and cheat but there are a number of people we have been worried about for a number of years, some of whom withdrew from the US trials and others who performed badly.”
Pound is not so happy with the ATP though, after an independent review claimed they had completely mis-handled their inquiry into the seven nandrolone tests.
“The good news is that the ATP were willing to let someone independent look at how they handled the cases,” said Pound.
“The bad news is that the independent person found they had completely mis-handled the whole thing.
“The ATP is essentially an association of players, so there is some conflict of interest in that relationship.
“We firmly believe drug-testing and result management should be done independently in order to remove a lot of the question marks.”
