Foundation for Global Sports Development Tackles Doping -- ATRadio

(ATR) International Paralympic Committee president Philip Craven is the keynote speaker at today’s "Doping in Sport: How the Culture Might Change" symposium organized by the Foundation for Global Sports Development (GSD).

GSD executive board member Dr. Steven Ungerleider, speaking with Around the Rings on the latest edition of ATRadio, says "we are very honored to have Sir Philip Craven at the event. Sir Philip was the one, and the only one, who put his foot down and said on the eve of the Rio Olympics ‘We are not allowing any Russian athletes because there’s been widespread cheating.’"

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) will surely also be a part of discussions at the event. Ungerleider believes that WADA "has pretty much imploded due to the Russian scandal."

Others speaking at the symposium include U.S. Anti-Doping Agency sports attorney William Brock III, Major League Baseball chief legal officer Dan Halem and Court of Arbitration for Sport vice president Michael Lenard.

The event will be held at the Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu, California.

Ungerleider explained the attraction of a symposium of this kind.

"As somebody who is a consultant to the US Olympic committee and somebody who serves on the International Paralympic Committee on the executive board, I always enjoy seeing my colleagues every two years at the Games. But we don’t really get a chance to sit in a room with the pharmacologists, the legal experts, with the anti-doping specialists from WADA and hear different points of view."

Ungerleider left no doubt asto his views on doping in sport.

"Not only is it a violation of ethics, not only is it not fair play, but it’s dangerous. We have the data, we know what anabolic steroids and derivatives and HGH does to the body. So there is no room for any doping at any level and I think most folks will agree, there are some who are dissenters to that, but for our discussion I think we’re talking about the future of the games, the future of training and how we can provide education and prevention services for those who are struggling to make a healthy decision."

Listen below for the full interview with Ungerleider and ATR Content Editor Gerard Farek.

Written by Gerard Farek

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