Dick Pound, president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), has admitted it is almost impossible to get ahead of drug cheats, but says better tests are being developed to narrow the gap.
Pound, a Canadian lawyer and a senior member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said Wada had been ”spectacularly succesful” since being set up in 1999, but still had a long way to go to drive drugs from sport.
Asked by the BBC if anti-doping authorities would ever get ahead of the cheats, Pound said: ”I don’t think so — they always have the advantage of moving first. But with the amount of research funding we are putting into developing better and better tests, I think we can narrow the gap. We are certainly gaining on them, but it’s not won yet.”
Pound, a former vice-president of the IOC, who has been the butt of criticism from various sports bodies for his outspoken comments, said Wada had made a difference.
”I think we’ve done remarkably well in a short period — it’s been spectacularly succesful,” he said. ”We’ve established a reputation as a no-nonsense, absolutely even-handed organisation that’s not afraid to look at what’s under the rocks that may be out there.
”If I’m not being criticised, I’m not doing my job. It’s my job to get into the faces of the people who would prefer to leave the status quo as it is, and ignore the existence of a problem.”
Most recently, Pound has come under fire from world football’s governing body, Fédération Internationale de Football Association (Fifa), after claiming its anti-doping rules did not conform to those of Wada.
Wada’s main grievances with Fifa are its application of sanctions for doping offences, the authorisation to allow the therapeutic use of some drugs and Wada’s right to lodge appeals with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Pound told the BBC the differences had yet to be resolved.
”We are in the process of seeking an advisory opinion from the Court of Arbitration for Sport as to whether Fifa’s rules comply with the world anti-doping code,” he said. — AFP
