Much has been made in the past few years about athletes getting away with positive tests, countries not complying with anti-doping codes, countries paying lip-service to the fight against drugs, and athletes being given very lenient sentences. Not for much longer, it would appear, because WADA (World Anti Doping Association) and most major sporting organizations in the World have collaborated and will now presenr a unified front in the fight against doping.
One of the main points of the new code is that there will no longer be two lists of banned substances, only one uniform list, which is extensive, clear and easy to use. This reduces the chances of ambiguity being used as an excuse.
The code is expected to be fully implemented before the Athens Olympics in 2004. Among the list of organizations who have signed up we see FIFA, the International Baseball Association, and the International Tennis Federation. The Irish delegation was substantial, and included John Treacy.
As Richard Pound President of WADA has stated "this brings the fight against doping to a new level", and hopefully now we will see less and less of athletes escaping with excuses like "out of competition", when they are merely between games.