Drugs in sport: Be firm but fair with offenders—expert

Press, 27 February 1989, Page 6

Drugs in sport: Be firm but fair with offenders —expert

By

NEIL OUGHTON

of Reuters in London

The unfortunate athlete had tested positive for an illegal sedative found in a common cough syrup. His national federation was ready to ban him for life. But in a tiny office, little wider than a hammer thrower’s turning circle, one of the world’s leading experts on drug misuse was far from convinced.

Professor Arnold Beckett dropped the report on to his desk and shook his head. “This is madness,” he said.

“You’ve got to be strong where you need to be strong if it’s a really flagrant drug misuse. Yet you’ve got to be flexible in these fringe areas. It’s the only way to operate.” A leading lieutenant in the International Olympic Committee’s war on drug abuse in sport, Mr Beckett is campaigning for calm from over-zealous authorities in the wake of the Ben Johnson scandal at the Seoul Olympics.

“We tell federations not

to go overboard with over-the-counter medicines,” he said in an interview in his office at London University.

“We advise a ban of three months. It’s a slap on the wrist. If it goes on, then you act.” Calls for sport’s doping offenders to be banned for life have grown since Johnson was stripped of the Olympic 100 m gold after traces of the anabolic steroid, Stanozolol, were found in his body in Seoul.

The Canadian world champion and record holder has since started a two-year suspension but the 1.0. C. medical commission member, Mr Beckett, would welcome him back to athletics in 1990.

He remains a committed opponent of those who seek to have Johnson and other offenders barred for life for a first offence.

Beckett is urging federations to take the 1.0.C.’s “flexible approach” to punishing offenders who fall foul of the drug laws. He visibly winces at talk of life bans for first offenders.

“It may be all right if you can prove that the individual knowingly took the action,” he said. “But to be banned for life because of somebody

else’s action ... I don’t think that’s the right way to command public respect and support. “I believe any control mechanism in society must be based upon informed opinion support — that you’re seen to be just and fair.” Mr Beckett believes the battle against drug abuse in sport will never be won but insists random, out-of-competition testing will limit its escalation.

Flexibility and responsibility are essential themes in his policy of dealing with the cheats.

But above all, Mr Beckett argues, the 1.0.C.’s first priority must be to protect competitors from drugs rather than punish those who seek to profit from their use.

“We are aiming to make sport as clean as possible,” Mr Beckett said.

“Testing is a deterrent and that should be its emphasis — not getting highly excited over a positive.”

“Athletes need protection from those around them, like doctors and coaches,” he said. “Children in their teens will often do things because their coaches tell them. There are stories about youngsters being given socalled vitamins which

were in fact anabolic steroids.

“We’ve got to look at the situation and attempt to protect. We ought to aim to try and deal with those who are pushing this problem. The 1.0. C. has always said that if we have the evidence we will act against anybody.”

The Seoul Games were marred by 10 positive dope tests which resulted in disqualification — a figure, Mr Beckett claims, proves the lOC’s policies of deterrence are working.

“That doesn’t mean that misuse is not occurring beforehand. But at any major event, it would only be a fool who would be on drugs that we could detect.”

Mr Beckett is quick to concede that that the drug cheats in sport will never be beaten.

“I don’t envisage drugfree sport — just like I don’t envisage a drug-free society,” he said. But he claims the authorities have the technology and the techniques to contain drug abuse. Eradicating the use of anabolic steroids, usually taken out of season to promote muscle growth, has become Mr Beckett’s main objective with yearround random testing his main weapon.

“Random testing will play a key role, especially in the steroid field,” said the founder and former director of London’s drug control and teaching centre, who also sits on the International Amateur Athletic Federation (1.A.A.F.) medical committee.

“Random testing will prevent the escalation of drug abuse and dramatically reduce the present level of misuse. In fact without it, there’s not too much point in doing testing at any big event.”

But while Mr Beckett said the authorities were a step or two ahead of the cheats in most areas of drug misuse, he admitted they were trailing badly in the bid to combat the outlawed practice of blood doping.

Mr Beckett said no test has been devised to detect blood doping, where competitors remove a quantity of blood only to return it just before competition after the loss has been made up to leave the body rich in oxygencarrying red blood cells. “Blood doping is the most efficient way of altering human performance,” Mr Beckett said. “Much more so than any chemical additive.”

He denied reports that a test had recently been developed