WADA ruling reverses lifetime ban for drugs cheats

The British Olympic Association’s lifetime ban for drugs cheats violates the global anti-doping code, the World Anti-Doping Agency declared yesterday.

The by-law, brought in 19 years ago, means the BOA have been declared “non-compliant” with the code by WADA’s foundation board which met in Montreal today.

The ruling increases the chances of sprinter Dwain Chambers and cyclist David Millar being able to compete at the London 2012 games next summer.

The BOA will now aim to press ahead and test their legal right to maintain the ban, and take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne.

The BOA said in a statement the ruling will bring “clarity and closure” to their dispute with WADA over the lifetime ban.

After the International Olympic Committee lost a case over their ruling that drugs cheats should miss the next Games even if their ban has expired, WADA have insisted that the BOA remove their lifetime ban from their anti-doping rules.

The BOA added: “We look forward to receiving the formal findings from WADA setting out how they have determined the BOA’s selection policy is non-compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code.

“On behalf of the overwhelming majority of British athletes we will vigorously defend any challenge to the selection policy which bans drug cheats from representing Team GB and we will publish the process we intend to follow in the near future.”

The BOA are keen to resolve the dispute as soon as possible so it does not interfere with the build-up to the London 2012 Games. They also would prefer to be involved in a test case with another organisation at CAS rather than take on a banned athlete, such as Chambers, in the High Court because it would be less disruptive and considerably cheaper in terms of legal fees.

WADA president John Fahey defended the ruling and criticised BOA chairman Colin Moynihan for his claims that current anti-doping sanctions were “toothless” and that WADA had failed to catch the worst drugs cheats.

He told the Canadian Press: “I’m very disappointed that it’s come to this.

“I believe that WADA has acted very properly from the moment that we got news of the Court of Arbitration for Sport decision [on the IOC case].

“We asked them (the BOA) to consider their decision.

“We had their decision conveyed to us through a vitriolic spray in a speech that was circulated to everyone except us earlier this week.

“(It was) subsequently formally conveyed in a letter (on Friday).”