Positive tests reveal recreational drug use

FIVE of the seven positive tests recorded by the Irish Sports Council anti-doping programme in 2004 were for recreational drugs, according to its annual report released yesterday.

But ISC chief executive John Treacy doesn’t believe that such findings undermine the €1.3 million spent on the programme.

The Council carried out 918 tests in 2004, and while these included the high-profile case of Cathal Lombard, only one other instance of a performance-enhancing substance was found and that was later given an exemption on therapeutic grounds.

In the other positive tests, traces of alcohol, cannabis and cocaine were discovered. The two cocaine samples were in basketball and rugby. As the disciplinary process is still ongoing, the athletes’ names cannot be released.

However an IRFU spokesperson confirmed yesterday the rugby player is not contracted to them.

Cannabis was detected in a sample from a soccer player, who received a two-month ban, while a motorcyclist and a rally driver received one-month and three-month suspensions respectively for the discovery of alcohol.

None have been named, but from January this year, athletes caught will be named 20 days after their disciplinary process has ended. Before that, it had been at the discretion of the individual federation.

“It is surprising and unfortunate that five of the seven violations were for recreational drugs,” Treacy said, “but the tests show up recreational drugs as well as performance-enhancing drugs and if people take recreational drugs, they get banned.

“I don’t think it undermines the money spent. If we only get one athlete, the amount of money spent during the year is worth it. We have to be vigilant and compliant and play our part in cleaning up sport through our anti-doping programme. That is our responsibility.”

Treacy explained that any athlete showing suspicious improvements will be placed under the microscope - most notably Cathal Lombard.

“If someone has gigantic improvements in their time, pretty late in their career, it would set the alarm bells ringing. We would have targeted him but when you are testing athletes, you need luck on your side. It is better we got him before the Olympics and he had a performance,” Treacy said.

Lombard has spoken of returning to athletics once his suspension is completed, as he is entitled to do, stressed Treacy.

“If somebody is suspended and comes back, we will obviously be targeting them. We haven’t had to deal with this issue before because everyone banned has left the sport for good.”

The other major drugs controversy in Irish sport last year, Cian O’Connor and Waterford Crystal, didn’t fall under the Sports Council’s control but their relationship with equestrian remains troubled.

Only 18 out-of-competition tests were carried out in the sport last year, all on riders, and the Sports Council admits there might be a need for a programme for testing horses.

“We have question marks this year, with regard to the testing of horses. But over the course of the year, testing for horses has got more sophisticated and they have zero tolerance now, as everyone knows,” Treacy says.

Anti-Doping Programme manager Una Maye said that it is important that WADA (the World Anti-Doping Agency) takes responsibility for testing horses.

“WADA takes responsibility that the standards are adhered to, whether that is by the International Federation or by an anti-doping agency, that has to be seen to happen.”

Meanwhile, Treacy confirmed there are likely tobe much more out-of-competition testing for GAA players this year, after testers visited four training sessions last season.

Twenty-eight players were also tested after championship games. With the Sports Council conducting 75 tests in conjunction with overseas agencies and the positive test of Lombard, officials are encouraged by the progress being made. And the perception that athletes and chemists remain one step ahead is slowly eroding, Dr Maye believes.

“The athletes are no longer as far ahead of the testers as they once were,” Maye proclaimed.

“You get the odd new substance now and again, but ultimately these are all variations on a theme. They are steroids with a slight chemical tweak. As soon as we know what is out there, the labs are ready to test.

“They are running out of options of masking agents. Gene doping is not an issue yet, and I don’t think it will be for a long time yet.

“But the fact that it is considered, and that people and scientists are working with us now before it becomes an issue, shows a huge turnaround in the process.”

Blood testing for Human Growth Hormone (HGH) is also expected to come on-line in Ireland. “We are hoping within the next 18 months we will be testing for HGH,” Maye said. “There are a lot of implications, but we have the lab on-site. The logistics of setting up blood testing at an ordinary Irish event are fairly big. Blood testing will never replace urine testing completely because urine tests can detect a lot more.”

*Dr Brendan Buckley gave his first address in the chair of the Anti-Doping Committee. Dr Buckley, a Consultant Physician at the Bon Secours Hospital in Cork, takes over the chair from Dr Conor O’Brien.