Balco scandal has tainted sport, say IAAF

ATHLETICS chiefs have admitted that the scale of doping seen in the Balco scandal has “tainted” the sport.

Some of athletics’ biggest stars have been caught up in the controversy, in which the San Francisco company has admitted supplying drugs to athletes.

Istvan Gyulai, boss of governing body the IAAF, admitted: “Balco has revealed what many suspected - that sport is tainted and undermined by organised doping,” he said.

But even though the sport’s reputation has been hit, IAAF secretary general Gyulai insists the revelations also had their good side. “These disclosures will help us better target our efforts to eradicate doping from athletics and sustain fair play,” he told the IAAF Congress ahead of the World Championships, which start on Saturday.

The IAAF has increased the monitoring of athletes and more than 850 doping tests will be conducted in Helsinki - more than twice the number carried out two years ago. It is also recommending that first-time drug cheats should receive four-year bans.

An IAAF congress meeting in Helsinki asked the World Anti-Doping Agency to double the mandatory ban after senior vice-president Dr Arne Ljungqvist recommended co-operation with WADA.

Dr Ljungqvist, also president of the International Olympic Committee’s medical commission, believes the IAAF must work in conjunction with WADA and also the Court for Arbitration in Sport (CAS) - sport’s supreme legal body.

There will be no sudden change of policy, however, as the recommendation will not be considered until the 2007 WADA congress.

The United States had tendered a resolution that congress should immediately operate a zero tolerance policy and impose a lifetime ban for a first-time doping violation.

But they withdrew their motion after being convinced by Ljungvist, although a hardliner himself, they must work hand-in-hand with WADA who currently feel life bans would be difficult to enforce

Meanwhile, there will be no change to the current IAAF regulation which allows only one false start in any sprint race.

The IAAF council withdrew its own proposal that the current rule should be replaced by one which would immediately disqualify anyone committing a false start.

Council members felt the current regulation has been abused by some athletes deliberately false-starting in order to increase pressure on their opponents. However, the council was persuaded that a ‘no strikes and you’re out’ rule would be too harsh.