British Olympic Association chairman Colin Moynihan defiantly defended the status of the BOA’s by-law 25 which gives a lifetime ban for athletes convicted of using anabolic steroids or performance-enhancing drugs. Moynihan announced that the BOA will retain the by-law even if it breaks the rules set forth by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled against the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) controversial Rule 45, also known as the Osaka Rule, that prevented athletes who had served steroid bans of greater than six months from competing in the Olympics.
The CAS ruled that IOC’s so-called “six-month rule” was “invalid and unenforceable” and violated the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) rules. The BOA’s by-law 25 goes far beyond the IOC’s Rule 45. Consequently, anti-doping authorities around the world have asked the BOA to review the fairness of their policies.
Travis Tygart, chief executive of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), essentially accused the British Olympic Association of cheating through their stubborn refusal to follow the rules agreed upon when they adopted WADA’s code dictating sanctions for the prohibited use of steroid and performance-enhancing drugs.
Tygart, who usually criticizes athletes for purposefully breaking the rules, criticized the BOA instead. He had some harsh words for the BOA’s defiant stance.
“Once you set the rules and the world agrees to them, you ought to play by those rules,” said Tygart.
Many anti-doping authorities have questioned the fairness of the BOA’s stance, which is supported by several famous British Olympians including Sebastian Coe and Sir Steve Redgrave, because it seriously undermines the authority of the World Anti-Doping Agency.
It is ironic that the British Olympic Association has taken such a hardline anti-doping stance especially given that the personal possession of anabolic steroids for self-administration by athletes and bodybuilders is perfectly legal in the United Kingdom.
The UK steroid laws have been weakened recently under pressure from WADA. The personal use of steroids remains legal but that status may change if anti-doping authorities and conservative politicians have their way.
Hugh Robertson, the country’s sports ministers, has promised to do everything possible to eliminate steroid use from sport.
‘I will do everything I can while I am a minister to ensure British policy is orientated to ensure that sport is fair and, particularly, free of drugs,” promised Robertson.
Source:
Meadows, M. (October 6, 2011). Britain to stick to doping ban law despite CAS ruling. Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com
Slater, M. (October 3, 2011). Team GB’s lifetime ban for doping ‘should be scrapped’. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympics/15159806.stm
