Irish anti-dope model sets the standard

IN 1999 the Irish Sports Council established an anti-doping programme amid a good deal of fanfare. Now it seems to be living up to the hype.

Soon after its inception each of the major National Governing Bodies (NGB) had signed up to it with the GAA finally putting pen to paper two years ago.

The Irish anti-doping role model is now held aloft by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) as an excellent example of the standards required throughout the sports world.

WADA have taken the issue of drug testing to a whole higher level globally this past 12 months with a higher level of consistency for sanctions, athlete lists and general policy, a process which has effectively closed a number of loopholes.

In the Irish context the criteria for being eligible for testing depends on the sport. In the GAA testing is confined to all inter-county players while in rugby the criteria includes those on provincial and international contracts.

In athletics the catchment is, with a few exceptions, those who compete internationally for their NGB and are a part of the International Carding Scheme.

These athletes must notify anti-doping authorities of their whereabouts and testing can be done in or out of competition.

The ISC's doping programme comprises three areas testing, education and research.

All samples are numbered rather than named to preserve the anonymity of individual cases. Those who know which sample belongs to which athlete could be as few as two.

An athlete provides a single urine sample in two beakers. This is then labeled Sample A and Sample B.

To date, there has just been one example of both these samples differing widely, although most athletes who test positive in the A sample insist on the B sample being tested also. All the results are recorded on a confidential basis and passed on by the ISC to the relevant NGB.

Once a positive result is returned, it is up to the relevant NGB to discipline its athlete for producing a positive result.

After testing positive for a banned substance what happens next?

The most common response was for athletes to claim they had inadvertently taken something illegal and would fight to clear their names.

Appeals have been successfully launched on this basis many times in the past but now it is more difficult to use such excuses.

British cyclist David Millar recently held up his hands and admitted taking EPO when he realised the old loopholes were no longer there.

For those who wish to appeal any ban that might be imposed, the ISC has an independent expert judicial panel.

This is seen as an independent, less costly and less messy means of appealing a case than the country's civil courts.

There is also the Court of Arbitration for Sports in Lausanne where Michelle Smith brought her own case some years back.

Few athletes choose to take their appeals this far however.