Leeway sought for athletes who didn't mean to cheat
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- Anti-doping agencies soon could be allowed more discretion when punishing athletes who test positive for banned substances but honestly didn't intend to cheat.
Delegates at a two-day conference to review the World Anti-Doping Code agreed on the changes Tuesday, meaning it is almost certain to be included when the code is updated in November.
"Those athletes that are taking, by mistake, a cold medicine should be able to get away with it. Until now that's been difficult," said Rune Anderson, the World Anti-Doping Agency's director of standards.
Under WADA's current code, testing positive for a banned substance the first time means an automatic two-year suspension. That can be doubled when an athlete shows a pattern of intentional abuse, but now it also will be possible to lessen the punishment -- or in some cases, drop it entirely.
"It will still be difficult because the athlete will have to prove that what they took ... was not intended to enhance performance. So the burden of proof is on them," Anderson said.
About 85 representatives of national and international anti-doping agencies and major sports organizations such as the International Olympic Committee attended the meeting.
The meeting ended without a clear consensus on whether to amend the list of banned substances. The Netherlands' anti-doping agency and Dutch government support scrapping marijuana and alcohol from the banned substance list, arguing they don't enhance an athlete's performance.
Herman Ram, the head of the Netherlands' anti-doping agency, said another contentious issue was whether some medications that ease inflammation but don't directly improve performance should be dropped from the banned list. They already can be used under the code if prescribed by a doctor and preapproved by WADA.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
