With future WADA action against the British Olympic Association appearing more possible after tension cropped up between them, attention is focusing on the BOA’s next move in the matter.
WADA President John Fahey today defended the agency’s reputation, his comments coming one day after BOA’s president Colin Moynihan strongly criticised it and said that it had ‘failed’ in its bid to police the sport.
Moynihan was responding to WADA’s earlier request that the BOA removes a lifetime ban on Olympic participation it currently enforces against any British athlete sanctioned for a serious doping offence. His words were a surprising rebuke of WADA, and did little to resolve the difference of opinion.
“It is understandable that many in sport have concluded that (WADA) has underachieved in the 10 years it has been operational,” said Moynihan in a stinging attack, according to AP. “Not least because ... the system put in place by WADA has failed to catch the major drug cheats of our time.
“Marion Jones and countless others have flourished during the WADA era - isn't that enough to prompt an independent audit of the organization tasked with policing sport?”
WADA president John Fahey responded to that today, making it clear that he wasn’t happy with Moynihan’s comments on Tuesday. “Accepting that any signatory must be free to criticize, it is disappointing to read the BOA president's comments, some of which are misinformed and inaccurate, and many of which have been addressed by WADA stakeholders in the last code review or by WADA in its present activities,” he told AP.
The reason for the tension dates back to October 6, when the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled against the International Olympic Committee’s Rule 45. This blocked athletes found guilty of doping from competing in the next Olympic Games after their ban ends, and had been applied to the 2008 Olympic 400 metre gold medallist LaShawn Merritt. The CAS ruling related directly to his case, but said the principle was unfair and should not be applied.
While the BOA’s lifetime ban is clearly a slightly different matter, WADA contacted it in the wake of the CAS decision and said that the same principles could apply in each case. It requested that it examine its lifetime ban in the light of the dropping of Rule 45.
Under the BOA system, competitors such as David Millar and the athlete Dwain Chambers cannot currently be considered for the London 2012 Games. Millar didn't comment specifically on his own case after the CAS ruling, but issued a statement welcoming the decision to drop Rule 45.
Some feel the BOA move is a strong additional deterrent for the country’s sportspeople, and is thus commendable. WADA’s own stance is that the rules must be the same for all countries and, unless its own regulations are changed, that the WADA signatories must comply.
There were suggestions today that WADA had launched an appeal to CAS against the BOA. The agency has however stated that this is not the case, and that no such move is currently underway.
If the BOA continues to refuse to consider the matter, though, it may find itself under increasing pressure prior to the start of the London Games.