BOA Chief Calls WADA Victory "Hollow"

(ATR) The chairman of the British Olympic Association says Monday’s decision to rule the BOA’s eligibility bylaw illegal is a "hollow victory" for the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Colin Moynihan was speaking to reporters in London after an official announcement by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, who said that a lifetime Olympics ban of athletes sanctioned for drugs violations comes against WADA Code.

"The British Olympic Association is clearly very disappointed in the outcome," Moynihan said. "No doubt for athletes, coaches and administrators who want to see greater progress made in the fight against doping, this will be seen as a hollow victory for WADA."

Despite the ruling, Moynihan stood by his decision to defend the BOA’s unique stance on eligibility.

"Not to have vigorously fought to defend that selection policy would’ve been an abdication of the responsibility that we have as the BOA to British athletes and to a clean Games," he said.

"Now we must move the discussion forward. We will engage and lead in a global campaign to seek fundamental and far reaching reform to WADA. We have already submitted a set of recommendations to WADA as part of the ongoing World Anti-Doping Code review process.

"We will be vocal in that process, principally calling for tougher more realistic sanctions for serious first time doping offences – a minimum of four years including one Games. We will be seeking testing methods that are more proactive, more reliable and treat athletes with greater fairness and consistency," Moynihan added.

"And we will be calling for the autonomy of National Olympic Committees to be respected, particularly in determining their selection policies for an Olympic Games."

Monday’s ruling clears the way for British drug cheats such as sprinter Dwain Chambers and cyclist David Millar to compete at the London Olympics. Should they post qualification-worthy results, Moynihan maintained theywould not be treated any differently within Team GB.

"On the decision made now by CAS, athletes such as [David] Millar and [Dwain] Chambers will be eligible for Team GB for the Olympic Games. If they are nominated, so long as they meet the eligibility criteria, they will be selected to Team GB," Moynihan confirmed.

"They will be treated just as every other athlete in the delegation – there will be no two-tier team. We at the BOA have a responsibility, and we will make certain all athletes are treated equal and fair. They have a responsibility to understand the one Team GB ethos and fitinthe team just as is the case for the other members of the delegation."

The decision of CAS was somehow leaked over the weekend before any official announcement had been made, a mistake Team GB chef de mission Andy Hunt tells Around the Rings disappointed him.

"We’ve held absolutely to the agreement with CAS that no information should be released before 4 o’clock today Swiss time, 3 o’clock here. So no, we don’t know where that came from at all, and it clearly is disappointing," Hunt said.

"Having said that, this is now a powerful platform to fight for the revision of the code. Over the last few weeks, I have been approached by tens of NOCs out in Russia to thank us for the fight that we were taking on not just for British sport and British athletes but more importantly for athletes and NOCs around the world.

"Did we do the right thing here?" he asked.

"Absolutely."

Reported in London by Christian Radnedge.

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