New independent agency set to lead anti-doping initiatives

THE Irish Sports Council (ISC) aims to transfer its anti-doping programme to an independent agency by 2009.

The decision comes after recent recommendations from the Council of Europe and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) that warned of a perceived conflict of interest for bodies such as the ISC.

“The service of sample collection will be carried out to a high-quality standard under a revised system implemented fully from within the Irish Sports Council, thereby protecting the integrity of the core business of the unit,” said an ISC statement.

“This service is being brought in-house. The programme will ultimately move out of the council into an independent agency, provisionally scheduled for 2009.”

Similar bodies worldwide are following the same course.

That was just one of several recommendations included in the ISC’s latest three-year strategy launched yesterday called “Building Sport for Life”.

It aims to increase general participation levels in sport as well as improve standards at the elite grade.

A dedicated participation unit has been established to work towards the first of those aims — a 3% increase in children’s participation by 2008 and 1.5% for adults.

The three-year strategy also intends to roll out the remainder of the Local Sports Partnerships by the end of next year, establish a more informed research policy for sport and get the newly-created Irish Institute of Sport and Coaching Ireland up and running.

To fully implement the strategy, the ISC has calculated that it will need a staff of 34 and a budget of e50m. It currently employs 25 and has an annual budget of e40.9m.

An application has already been sent in to Government for funding of e53m for 2007 which, if accepted, would be a massive 25% jump on its existing budget.

“It used to be that we would ask for what we thought we would get,” said ISC chairman Ossie Kilkenny. “Now it’s a case of ‘here’s what we do, this is what we want you to give us’.”

Sports Minister John O’Donoghue intimated a fortnight ago that the Government spend on sport would continue to rise and he sounded optimistic that the ISC would be granted the funds it sought.

“I know the Irish Sports Council is anxious to increase its funding and that is something that we will be discussing with Minister for Finance Brian Cowen in the upcoming month,” he said.

“I feel confident that we will be in a position to approve the monies,” Mr O’Donoghue added.

Mr Kilkenny also accepted yesterday that this country was “not at the races” in terms of exploiting possible sponsorship links with the business community.

The ISC has conducted a pilot scheme with basketball on the possibility of strengthening links between sporting and business organisations and plans to expand on this potentially lucrative link.

“The experience would be that, now and again, sports can have a relationship, get some commercial money in and fritter it away,” said the ISC’s Paul McDermott. “We’re trying to work with sports in a coherent way so that they can build long-term relationships.

“If you’re going to have a relationship with a commercial entity, then you’re going to have to have a bottom line and we’re trying to get sports to think that way. It can work. It has worked for a number of sports over the past few years.”