WADA puts punch into battle against doping

“It’s the very basis of sport to have rules of play. It’s almost like a social contract. If you participate you have to respect the rules,” the organisation’s first president, Dick Pound, said.
Pound believes that the involvement of governments is essential for the successful functioning of the agency.
“It’s with the power to investigate and not making an athlete pee into a cup that we’re going to make giant strides, even if we have to continue to carry out spot tests,” said Pound.
“By carrying out investigations, like in the Puerto affair (in Spain) or Balco (in the United States) we can find the distribution network, the people who produce the drugs and supply them etc...”
The range of doping products has not changed hugely in ten years with EPO and growth hormone still the principle offenders, but the perfectioning of detection methods has also resulted in the cheaters fine-tuning their methods.
Blood doping has increased with transfusions of an athlete’s own blood remaining undetectable by classic anti-doping methods.
“Wiping out doping and cheating in sport is almost as futile as declaring the end of crime,” said IOC president Jacques Rogge.
“But this battle merits being fought and it’s a battle in which it seems to me that we’re gaining ground.”
The number of doping controls has steadily increased from 150,000 in 2003 to nearly 275,000 in 2008.
However the small percentage of positive results - less than 2 percent - leaves many experts, even within WADA, sceptical on the reality of doping.
“There are still too many athletes who can cheerfully dope out of season,” claims Christiane Ayotte, director of the Montreal anti-doping agency, one of 35 WADA-accredited agencies, who like others questions the rigour of testing.
“Too often in federations or governments, the people who are in charge of managing controls, have no idea of anti-doping.”
“It is a glaring problem. WADA should tackle it in order to be sure that they collect samples in good time and properly apply the code and sanctions.”