Fight Against Doping -- Five Federations Not Compliant

WADA Deems Five Federations Not Code Compliant

At last weekend’s meetings of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Executive Board and Foundation, five federations were deemed to be incompliant with the WADA Code.

Federations for gymnastics, handball, modern pentathlon, volleyball and wrestling were lacking in their application of WADA standards in the fight against doping.

In the Code Compliance report, WADA said the federations were guilty of “not having show [sic] evidence of the establishment of a consistent Out-of-Competition program.” WADA pledged to help those federations which were not in compliance with the Code.

Despite not being compliant, WADA took no action to punish or sanction the signatories.

You can read the entire WADA report here.

Also at the meeting, WADA announced it would strengthen the cooperation between it and Interpol.

The agreement will help WADA to stop the trafficking of drugs and doping supplies.

“Law enforcement and government agencies possess investigative powers to attack source and supply of illegal substances which sport does not have. We need to ensure that cooperation between these two groups continues to strengthen in order to advance the fight against doping,” WADA President John Fahey said in a press release.

Beijing Retests Not Ready

The IOC said the 1,000 samples from Beijing that are being retested for drugs may not be ready for several months.

"We will probably start after Christmas and have the results maybe at the end of the first quarter of 2009," IOC medical director Patrick Schamasch told the Associated Press on Tuesday.

The IOC said they would retest about 1,000 samples for CERA, a new version of EPO. Tests for the drug were not developed until after the Beijing Olympics. Fani Halkia was banned for two years by the Greek athletics federation. (Getty Images)

Halkia Banned for Two Years

Greek sprinter Fani Halkia was banned for two years, the Greek Athletics Federation (SEGAS) said on Wednesday.

Halkia, who won gold in the women’s 400-meter hurdles in 2004, was banned from the Beijing Olympics when she failed a drug test prior to the start of competition.

She is currently under investigation for violating Greek laws pertaining to the possession of banned drugs. Halkia denies knowingly doping.

IAAF Appeals for Longer Russian Bans

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to lengthen the bans handed to seven Russian athletes.

The Russian athletics federation banned the athletes for two years for manipulating doping samples, but the IAAF was irate about the ban’s brevity.

"The IAAF considers that the offense committed justifies a heavier sanction and requests that the athletes be declared ineligible for a period for four years," the federation said in a statement.

Olga Yegorova, Yelena Soboleva, Yulia Fomenko, Tatyana Tomashova, Svetlana Cherkasova, Darya Pishchalnikova and Gulfiya Khanafeyeva were accused of manipulating after it was found the DNA in their urine samples did not match their own.

CAS said a verdict in the case would be expected in four months.

…Briefs

…International Cycling Union (UCI) President Pat McQuaid said there will be some positive drug tests as a result of the federation’s athlete passports. McQuaid, speaking at a press conference, said; "based on conspicuous results from the newly-introduced blood profiles, there will be some positive cases," according to German press agencies. He would not say which, or how many, riders were involved.

…The Angolan Council of Ministers approved the UNESCO International Convention on Doping in Sports on Wednesday.

…The FEI announced the creation of a commission on medication and doping chaired by Dr. Arne Ljungqvist, chairman of the IOC Medical Commission and vice president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The commission will examine ways for the federation’s anti-doping policies to be further conformed to WADA norms.

Media Watch

The New York Times writes about the research of Viagra as a performance-enhancing drug.

The use of performance-enhancing drugs is on the rise in U.S. high schools, but the New York Times reports there is no set strategy to combat their use.

Meri-Jo Borzilleri says it is about time for Tim Montgomery to admit to doping.

In an interview with the Associated Press, George Mitchell, who led the investigation into doping in professional baseball, says the use of drugs in the sport is declining.

FIFA takes a look at anti-doping procedures for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

John Chute offers analysis on the fight against doping in the Corkman.

WADA released the latest edition of its magazine Play True.

Written by Ed Hula III.