The spectre of British superiority has emerged as the British Olympic Association attempts to justify its violation of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) rules. The WADA code specifies that penalties for the use of anabolic steroids and peformance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) should be uniform. The maximum penalty for a first-time doping violation is two-years under existing rules.
The British Olympic Association (BOA) doesn’t think that’s good enough. The BOA disregarded this rule with a by-law that bans dopers for life from competing in the Olympic Games. WADA has notified BOA that the by-law is non-compliant with the uniform steroid rules.
Lord Moynihan, chairman of the British Olympic Association, refused to back down. The BOA has challenged WADA’s ruling and will argue its case at a Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing in London this week.
Athletes who had been suspended on steroid- and doping-related violations had previously been banned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from competing in the Olympic Games under “Rule 45” known as the Osaka Rule.
American LaShawn Merritt successfully challenged the IOC when the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled in his favor. The ruling set the precedent that made the BOA’s lifetime Olympic ban on steroid users a violation of the WADA code.
Moynihan’s rhetoric has been extreme. He has previously suggested that the BOA will retain the by-law even if the CAS rules against them. It apparently doesn’t matter if the British break the rules agreed upon by the international community. The BOA believes their rules are all that matters.
Moynihan has expressed support for statements by former British Olympic decathlete Daley Thompson who recently wrote an essay celebrating the superiority of British doping rules and a refusal to be “dragged down by the rest of the world”.
“I don’t see why we should be dragged down by the rest of the world, who impose a maximum two-year ban on even the most motivated cheaters. If we want high standards in this country then we should be entitled to them,” wrote Thompson in an editorial published by Sportsmail. “If the rest of the world don’t share our standards or can’t enforce them why should we have to kowtow?”
WADA director general David Howman criticized Daley’s statements by pointing out that steroid use was rampant and steroid testing was only in its infancy when Thompson won his Olympic gold medals at the 1980 Moscow Olympics and the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
Travis Tygart, chief executive officer of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), criticized the BOA for their stubborn refusal to follow the agreed upon doping rules set forth by WADA. Tygart, who usually criticizes athletes for cheating, criticized the BOA instead.
“Once you set the rules and the world agrees to them, you ought to play by those rules,” said Tygart.
Meanwhile, British athletes Dwain Chambers and David Millar, while trying not to take the BOA’s stance against them personally, patiently await the CAS ruling on whether they will be allowed to compete at the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Source:
McEvoy, J. and Wilson, N. (March 11, 2012). Daley ‘deserves gold’ for drugs blast, claims Olympic chief Moynihan. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/olympics/article-2113575/London-2012-Olympics-Daley-Thompson-praised-drug-blast-Lord-Moynihan.html
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