Wada fears for London 2012 as drug cheats are slipping through the net

By Owen Gibson

The director general of the Wada, David Howman, says that 36 positive
cases of EPO out of 258,000 in 2010 is 'very disappointing'.
Photograph: Jean-Christophe Bott/EPA.

Less than six months before London 2012, the World Anti-Doping Agency
fears that fewer than one in five drug cheats is being caught and
urged against complacency from governments and sporting bodies in
tackling the problem.

David Howman, the Wada director general, said that despite ever more
sophisticated testing, a major research project undertaken by the
global body had indicated more than one in 10 athletes were tempted to
cheat but only between 1% and 2% were caught.

"We think the annual statistics show that maybe between 1 and 2% of
athletes who are tested are cheating. By conducting these research
projects, the results of which will be made known later this year, we
think those numbers are more into double digits," said Howman.

"That's a concern. If more than 10% of the athletes in the world are
being tempted to take a shortcut via taking prohibited substances then
we've got an issue that is not being confronted as well as it should
be."

London 2012 organisers recently unveiled the most comprehensive
testing programme in the history of the Games and warned that cheats
would almost certainly be caught.

But Wada said that while athletes who cheated in major events were
likely to be caught, outside of competition too many tests were being
conducted "selectively" with more expensive blood tests for EPO and
human growth hormone not being carried out often enough.

"You can't test for human growth hormone unless you get a blood
sample. In 2010, of the 258,000 samples collected there were 36
positive tests for EPO," said Howman. "EPO is probably one of the
preferred substances of those athletes taking shortcuts and to have
only 36 positives in one year is very disappointing."

It is feared that of the 258,000 tests conducted, as few as 2% of them
include the blood tests that can catch the use of human growth
hormone.

The scale of the problem is being masked by the fact that in many
cases the contracts between anti-doping organisations (ADOs) and
laboratories are confidential. Too many were testing for a "selected
menu" of drugs rather than the "full menu", said Howman.

"We need ADOs to use the full menu because at the moment there is not
as much testing for some substances as we need," he said.

Wada welcomed this week's court of arbitration for sport judgment in
the Alberto Contador case, in which the Spanish cyclist was banned for
two years and stripped of his 2010 Tour de France title. The decision
backed Wada's "strict liability" stance.

The Wada president, John Fahey, said: "I think it indicates clearly
the robust nature of our code following a comprehensive review of
significant evidence. Our code was upheld in strong terms.

"There is a strong message in that – the onus is on athletes to ensure
that they don't take substances that can lead to an outcome such as
the one we've seen." He added: "Every time a cheat is caught it is a
good day for sport."

But Howman and Fahey, also warned that "anti-doping fatigue" could
impact on the battle to catch "sophisticated" dopers, particularly as
governments and policy makers considered the new scourge of illegal
betting and related corruption.

"In times of economic hardship other issues start to occupy the ground
we try to keep for anti-doping. Anti-doping fatigue can set in," said
Fahey. "We need governments to accept anti-doping is not just an issue
for sport, it is an issue for society. We need champions in government
and sport to stand up for clean competition."

Wada is increasingly working with Interpol, law enforcement and
customs agencies to attempt to infiltrate those who traffic and supply
prohibited substances.

Howman appealed to the sports industry to make a direct contribution
to Wada's £17.8m budget, funded equally by the International Olympic
Committee and national governments but recently frozen in light of the
global economic downturn.

"We are harsh critics of our standards and conscious of the costs
involved in testing. Wada has always been equally part-funded by the
IOC and governments and maybe the time has come for Wada to look
elsewhere for contributions," he said. "The global sports industry is
not short of money – $500bn (£315bn) per annum. Perhaps that global
sports industry should consider making a direct financial
contribution."

Fahey said it was looking into establishing a foundation where high
earning sports stars could contribute to Wada's budget.

In March, the Cas will rule on whether Wada was right to rule the
British Olympic Association non-compliant with its anti-doping code
over its bylaw that bans drug cheats for life. Fahey said Wada had
"conscientiously and rightfully" declined to comment on the facts of
the case until after it had been heard and said it was a "matter of
regret" that the BOA chairman, Lord Moynihan, continued to do so.

The issue has sparked a huge row between the two bodies, with Fahey
again criticising Moynihan's "misinformed and inaccurate tirade"
against his organisation.

Wada also urged US federal prosecutors to hand over evidence collected
during a long-running probe into the American cyclist Lance Armstrong,
which was this week dropped. "The inquiry in the US was about fraud,
but the evidence that has been gathered was about doping. We expect
the evidence will be shared in the same way [as in the Balco case],"
said Howman.

"It is important that happens as quickly as possible, just in case
there might be athletes who are going to London to whom it might
refer."

Howman also called for more to be done to take effective sanctions
against those who surround athletes who cheat, and in some cases
pressure them to do so. "Often the athlete is persuaded and cajoled by
people who should know better. It doesn't take much to realise how
effective an entourage can be," he said.

"How many lawyers have been pulled before a law society disciplinary
committee? How many doctors have gone to medical tribunals? That's the
level we need to look at. It is very easy to catch the dopey doper.
The sophisticated doper is becoming harder to detect and that's a big
challenge for the anti-doping movement."

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