Caffeine may go back on banned list after Gregan claims

THE World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said it will consider re-introducing a ban on caffeine following claims by Australian rugby captain George Gregan that it gives him a big performance boost.

Australia’s Treasurer Peter Costello also weighed into the debate, saying the use of caffeine tablets sets a bad example even though caffeine was taken off the banned list 18 months ago.

WADA’s director general David Howman said news that Australian athletes, including the Wallabies, were using the drug to boost performance was “troubling.”

Mr Gregan said on Tuesday he and many other Wallabies take No-Doz tablets with the blessing of Australian Institute of Sport physiologists.

“You can get 7% extra work output from taking these tablets and that’s a big increase at this end of sport,” he told reporters.

Mr Howman told radio station 2KY that his agency’s laboratory was the only one in the world to register an increase in caffeine use by athletes.

He said caffeine was moved to a monitoring list when it was taken off the banned list.

“It was a substance that we thought wasn’t being abused and wasn’t being used for performance enhancing, you had to have at least 12 cups of coffee to get over the level or start swallowing tablets.”

If caffeine was found being used to enhance performance, it may again be banned, Howman said. Sport governing bodies could also take their own steps to stop players using it.

Howman also questioned Gregan’s suggestion of a 7% boost.

Australian Institute of Sport director Peter Fricker said that if there were any performance boost it was more in the region of 3%.

“If it has performance-enhancing effects it does so with endurance events and it works in small doses and there are absolutely no gains in performance by taking larger doses,” he said.