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W
orld Anti-Doping Agency President Craig Reedie
recently said that "sport has had its wake-up call"
after a rocky 2015 shattered public confidence. He said
that sport must ensure better governance if public
and athletes are to uphold confidence in system.
Yet just a third of the way through 2016 and it appears that Reedie’s
comments are wishful thinking if he believes that sport has heeded
the wakeup call and we have seen the last of corruption and drug
scandals.
It is also not just an issue of governance, although good governance
is obviously essential. It is about everyone involved in sport including
athletes, the governing bodies, the supporters, betting interests and
even governments working together in a collaborative approach if
we are to make headway in the battle against corruption.
It is unrealistic to believe that we can reach a utopian situation
where all those involved will always only do what is good for sport
and act honourably at all times. Unfortunately much of sport is big
business and that means that it will always be a target for corruption
and illegal means to gain advantage. Governments will do almost
anything to win hosting rights for the major tournaments. Illegal
betting syndicates make millions out of sport. Players at all levels
can succumb to inducements that are, apparently, readily on offer
in most sports or they are tempted to take substances that may just
provide that edge to win a big payday. Some governing bodies have
covered up drug taking in order to gain advantage for their athletes.
There are just too many vested interests and too much money
involved that it is almost impossible for sport to be entirely clean all
of the time.
We already have had more than our fair share of news this year
about drug cheats and corruption in sport. The latest incident
regarding Maria Sharapova failing a drug test for meldonium, a drug
recently added to the WADA banned list, came hot on the heels
of the professional tennis match fixing scandal. This, in turn, was
uncovered just after athletics was rocked last year when Russia was
suspended from the sport after a WADA investigation revealed a
state-sponsored doping programme. Just before that we had the
ongoing investigation into FIFA, which was alleged to be rife with
corruption at the highest levels. FIFA incidentally have just launched
their own action against the wrong-doers citing the damage to FIFA’s
reputation and finances, business relationships and to its efforts to
develop the sport around the world caused by the cash for votes
scandals, the first admission by the governing body that bribes were
taken to award the World Cup to the highest bidder.
Oh, and let’s not forget that in January the Court of Arbitration for
Sport (CAS) announced its decision to suspend the ‘Essendon 34′
for 2016 because the club undertook a drugs programme and the
players allowed themselves to be part of it. CAS laid the blame
squarely at the players for taking the substances. It came, in part,
because the players did not disclose what and when they received
injections and pills on the necessary forms. That is the responsibility
of the athlete. But surely the blame should lay heavily on everyone
at Essendon. All the officials in the club also have a responsibility
to make sure that the rules are obeyed and certainly should not be
involved in introducing illegal or unethical practices.
Chris Evert has said she was stunned to hear that Sharapova failed
a doping test, but not by the fact that there is doping in tennis,
claiming that she knew players who doped during her career. She
said the use of performance-enhancing drugs in tennis went on
during her career - which was before the sport adopted current anti-
doping rules - and that it likely goes on in all sports.
What a sad state of affairs.
If we are to regain trust and control in the entire system of sport it
must be done collectively by all interested parties being involved. It
is not just about governance, although good governance has a very
major role to play by making sure that systems are in place to make
it very difficult for corruption and cheating to take place. We must
be tough on cheats. Imposing severe penalties for cheating, whether
for drug taking or match fixing, is an essential element of cleaning
up sport.
Officials also have a duty to make sure that their behaviour and
practices are beyond reproach. They should certainly not be promoting
practices which could bring their club or sport into disrepute.
But we also need to make sure players take responsibility too,
whether they are involved or not. If they know someone is cheating
they have an obligation to inform the authorities. This should
become standard practice and part of what is expected by the
governing bodies. Too often we hear players inferring that it was rife
when they were playing after they have retired but not highlighting
the problem in their playing days.
But what about when the officials are the instigators of or complicit
in the corruption?
We need a new strategy to deal with the problem.
At present CAS can, generally speaking, only hear a dispute if there
is an arbitration agreement between the parties which specifies
recourse to the CAS. It cannot instigate or conduct an investigation.
That is usually the preserve of the club or governing body. Perhaps
it is time for an overarching independent body comprising all of
the vested interests which is easily accessible to all, with the power
to investigate anonymous tip offs about cheating or wrong doing
within any sport…a CAS on steroids perhaps! Bad choice of words,
but hopefully you get my drift.
Time for some new thinking to stamp out this scourge perhaps?
By Steve Boucher
Touchline issue 23 | April 2016 | 3
DRUGS AND CORRUPTION IN SPORT
– IS GOVERNANCE TO BLAME?
editorial