Anti-doping news

CAS decision confirmed IWF’s sanction on Dutch weightlifter

The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled on the 25th May 2012 that: The Appeal filed by Ms. Mita Overvliet on 23 December 2011 against the decision dated 2 December 2011 rendered by the IWF Doping Hearing Panel is dismissed. The decision rendered by the IWF Doping Hearing Panel on 2 December 2011 is confirmed. Ms. Mita Overvliet being ineligible to compete in weightlifting competitions for a period of four years starting from 23 May

26-Year-Old Bulgarian Man Dies from Anabolic Steroids

A 26-year-old Bulgarian man has passed away in Bulgaria's Varna as a result of the continuous intake of anabolic steroids. The young man died just hours after he was admitted to the Toxicology Clinic at the hospital of the Bulgarian Navy in the Black Sea city of Varna. He was diagnosed with steroid intoxication, and it has been confirmed by the doctors that this was the cause of death. The 26-year-old man, who is known to have been working out regularly, and to have used anabolic steroids in order to enhance his performance, first sought medical aid from his GP when he had difficulty breathing. Medical tests showed that the steroids he had been taking caused his heart to swell substantially. He was planned to be admitted to hospital for medical treatment but in the meantime he felt very sick, and was admitted immediately to the Naval Hospital in Varna, the head of the Toxicology Clinic, Dr. Snezha Zlateva, told reporters. The medics found that, in addition to his swollen heart, he had blood clotting in his lungs and legs. "The young men took steroids both orally and hypodermically," Dr. Zlateva explained, while also reminding that several young sportsmen from around the world have died as a result of steroid intake. "Parents must be very careful in order to prevent their children from taking such substances. It should also be known that steroids are sometimes found even in food supplements for professional sports players. In her words, the autopsy has proven irrefutably that the 26-year-old died of steroid intake but the histological tests are yet to show what type of substances he had used. Source:

Is pain medication in sport a form of legal doping?

The deputy director of the World Anti Doping Laboratory in Cologne Dr Hans Geyer says that painkillers fulfil all the requirements of a doping substance. Dr Hans Geyer has been evaluating doping control forms and urine samples for a decade looking for evidence of pain medication. He found that athletes in many fields are taking large quantities of these drugs both in and out of competition. He says that controlling these drugs in sport is impossible. Dr Geyer says that as well as the analytical data he has been told directly by players that abuse of medications is widespread. „Painkillers really enhance performance but they have negative effects on body tissues, maybe irreversible effects.” – he said. "In a world championship in handball I have an original citation from one of the best players who said 50% of the team that won the championship took diclofenac - therefore we have to ask what is going wrong. Is the training too hard? Can a normal person not do these sports without painkillers? This is very alarming. "It's well known that Andreas Erm who won a bronze medal in the 50km walk in the 2003 world athletic championship in Paris received pain killers several times during the walk - can you tell me this is not performance enhancing? "His body was not able to walk 50km on this day in such a speed but he won the bronze medal because he was treated with pain killing medications!" Doping grey zone Dr Geyer says that competitors like Erm were not doing anything wrong. There is obviously a need to treat competitors in an event if they are in pain. But out of competition he is worried that about the use of medicines. Athletes may be able to improve their training performance because they don't need such a long recovery time after a hard session. "It is a grey zone. In my opinion pain killers fulfil all requirements of a doping substance because normally pain is a protection mechanism of the body and with pain killers you switch of this protection system, like if you switch off fatigue, which is also a protection mechanism of the body. "Painkillers really enhance performance but they have negative effects on body tissues, maybe irreversible effects." But while pain killing medications may have performance enhancing effects, Dr Geyer believes it will not be possible to limit their use in sport. "I think the control of these substances is impossible, as they are easily available in society. Therefore it is not possible to treat the use of painkillers in the same way as other doping substances." Who is responsible? There are issues relating to the supply of these medications as many of the most powerful pain killing drugs are available only on prescription. Dr Geyer argues that the medical community often has no choice but to give in to the demands of high profile athletes. "Doctors know that there may be problems with tissues and bones and the knees and they also know that if they allow the athlete to continue his training and competing with pain killing medications there will most probably be irreversible or long-term effects. "This should be discussed. There a question of ethical responsibility and the motivation of sports medicine. "But you know if an athlete doesn't receive the medication from one doctor he goes to the next and if he is a famous athlete he will receive everything. This is also a question that should be discussed." By Matt McGrath Science reporter, BBC World Service Source:

World Anti Doping Agency to add ‘Olympic ban’ to code

By David Bond BBC sports editor The World Anti Doping Agency has revised its code to include an "Olympic ban" for serious drugs offenders. The British Olympic Association (BOA) recently lost a legal battle to keep its lifetime ban for drugs cheats. But Wada's revised draft of the code means athletes guilty of serious doping offences could be banned for one Olympic cycle even if their original suspension finishes before the Games. The new provision is due to be approved in autumn next year. Continue reading the main story “This is an important step in the right direction, and it's moving toward reflecting the higher standard that athletes want to see” British Olympic Association statement The rule change is part of a series of amendments which will go out to sports and governments around the world for consultation prior to the code's introduction in 2015. Wada's proposed change to its code means it would be very similar to the IOC's rule 45, which was also outlawed at the Court of Arbitration for Sport last year following a challenge from the American 400m runner LaShawn Merritt. He argued successfully that the rule acted effectively as a second sanction - a breach of the original Wada code. Article 10.15 of the latest draft of the new Wada code now makes clear the provision for banning athletes from the next Olympic Games. It states: "Where an athlete or other person has been sanctioned for an anti-doping rule violation other than under Articles 10.3.3 (Filing Failures and Missed Tests), 10.3.4 (Prohibited Association), 10.4 (Specified Substances), or 10.5.2 (No Significant Fault or Negligence), and Article 10.5.3 (Substantial Assistance) is not applicable, then, as an additional sanction, the athlete or other person shall be ineligible to participate in the next Summer Olympic Games and the next Winter Olympic Games taking place after the end of the period of ineligibility otherwise imposed." The BOA and its chairman Lord Moynihan will claim some of the credit for Wada's move on Friday, having argued that the existing two-year sanction was an insufficient deterrent. A BOA spokesman said: "That's an important step in the right direction, and it's moving toward reflecting the higher standard that athletes want to see." Read it on

David Howman, Director General of the World Anti-Doping Agency: Sophisticated cheat is most dangerous enemy

WADA's Director General resolved to uphold integrity of sport David Howman, WADA's Director General, travels from conference to conference, from meeting to meeting and talks about integrity, honesty and the fight against doping. He listens and he learns, and ensures that practices are put in place and upheld. If you believe in clean sport he is what you would call "one of the good guys". But in the shadows, the sophisticated cheats are at work. And they rarely work alone. Each one has their entourage, their enablers, who help them to break the World Anti-Doping Agency code and at the moment, for the most part, they're getting away with it. According to Howman the sophisticated cheat is the most dangerous enemy in the fight against doping. After all, how do you fight an enemy you cannot see? "I think they've been sophisticated for a quite a while," he says from a hotel room in Budapest, where he has been for the last two days. "I don't think there's anything that has come up in a hurry over the last 12 months, but it's more of a continuation of how good the cheaters are. That's something that's concerned me for quite a while. This is nothing new for me but it's certainly something for the anti-doping community to look at very carefully. "The characters, they vary, but at the end of the day there are a lot of people advising those that cheat. It's not just one group, there are several, and I think each one has their own level of expertise." The sophisticated cheat isn't just the athlete then, it's the complete entourage as well. The doctors, the chemists, the couriers and muted bystanders who see but never speak. "Also, it's not just one sport, it's more than one sport," said Howman. "There's a collection of people, most of whom have no connection from the sport apart from the connection they have with this particular athlete." With resources stretched, stagnation appears to have set in within the fight against doping. Howman disagrees with the term "stagnation" but admits that the percentage of cheats could well be in double figures – through all sports, not just cycling, a clear indication that tests are no longer enough to catch those that stray outside of WADA sporting lines. "You just need to look at the annual test results and ask if the people who are possibly cheating are being caught. Out of 260,000 tests taken in 2010 you see that only one percent was positive and only 36 of them were EPO. So surely we're not catching them all. We should be looking at that every day." More than looking, Howman is acting. In the last 12 months, WADA has set up ties with Interpol and international customs across the world, taking the fight to the sophisticated cheaters who navigate through target testing and biological passports. However, as yet, results have been slow and Howman cannot confirm an instance where third party agencies have helped to crack down on doping, although he adds that WADA has a number of irons in the fire. "I think it's reached an occasion where we should look at everything. I've been challenging people to do that and we have to lead that processes. I think the fight against doping hasn't stagnated, that's not the right word, but I think we've reached a crossroads where testing itself is not going to catch all the cheats so it's up to us, having acknowledged that. "Generally speaking, the information we have is that there is still doping going on but I don't want to single out cycling. I've been quoted as saying double digits [percentage of athletes doping] and I suppose that's what it is. There are still those that think they can cheat and get away with it. I'm not going to put a number on it, but it's certainly a level that is concerning. The clean athletes are in the majority, and I don't have any hesitancy in that. I don't want to be all Doomsday but I want us to be realistic." Howman and WADA's reference to double digits refers to recent research which the association has carried out, but the final findings will not be available until later in the year. In cycling, the recent developments of the biological passport and the no needle policy have been roundly welcomed but with no new passport cases in two years and a needle policy that has little proof of enforcement, there is a long way to go, especially if cheats move further ahead in doping practices. "The risk is there that they are becoming more sophisticated and the risk therefore isn't something that I want to let go. I think what we have to do is say that's the potential and we have to confront those challenges. "What essentially goes on is that athletes and these sorts of people are doing micro-dosing, using cocktails, patches and the use of substances that means that they have the benefit of the substances in their body for the shortest amount of time but for the most amount of benefit. The testing will mean that if they tested in full-flight during an event they might be caught but if they're not tested until afterwards then the likelihood of being caught is pretty low. They'll go to extraordinary lengths." Extraordinary lengths need extraordinary measures of both deterrence and detection, and along with allies in Interpol there is the exploration of four-year bans being more readily applied. WADA's code is currently under evaluation with a redraft scheduled in 2013. The first draft is expected for June but there will be two phases of consultation and a second redraft will be written. Howman is nothing but patient but perhaps his greatest virtue is his resolve. A resolve to uphold integrity in spite of the harshness he and WADA confronts and limited tools they have to fight with. "I don't really get frustrated. There's nothing that keeps me from sleeping at night, but there are issues I'd love to see addressed in a faster fashion but that's just impossible so I have to retain patience. "I'm a great believer in the integrity of sport and what sport can give you as a society and to the young people that we nurture. I'll never deviate from that and anything I can personally do to maintain that I'll do that, whether it's anti-doping or anti-corruption because this so valuable to protect." Howman doesn't get emotional, after all displaying emotions isn't what he's paid to do, but if his resolve and fortitude was carried by the rest of the anti-doping authorities, he and the rest of us wouldn't have to wait so long for results and the sophisticated cheat would be the one having the sleepless nights. Source:

Anti-Doping Information (1st May 2012)

With the closeness of the London 2012 Olympic Games we wish to update you on the results of the Anti-Doping controls carried out in January-April 2012. All NFs shall promptly be aware of any potential changes in the Qualification points. African Championships - Continental Olympic Qualification Event: 1 positive case European Championships - Continental Olympic Qualification Event: 1 positive case Out of Competition testing: 3 positive cases Further to the above, there are additional 8 positive cases on tests carried out at the following competitions: "Andria Malech" Memorial Tournament: 2 positive cases South Asian Championships: 5 positive cases XXXI International Tournament Manuel Suárez: 1 positive case Please note that following receipt of the result of the B sample analyses the nationality of the athlete will be