Summer of scandal
Divisions at top as IOC holds doping crisis meeting
Posted: Wednesday August 19, 1998 09:56 AM
| |
Problems with drugs have tainted several recent events, such as the Tour De France AP |
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) -- With its credibility on the line
and its leaders divided, the International Olympic Committee holds
an emergency meeting Thursday to face up to the spiraling doping
crisis in sport.
Galvanized by a summer of drug scandals, IOC president Juan
Antonio Samaranch has convened the special meeting of his executive
board to address the Olympic movement's most intractable problem.
Ten years after Ben Johnson was stripped of his 100-meter gold
medal for using steroids at the Seoul Olympics, the use of
performance-enhancing drugs is damaging the image of the sports
world as never before.
In recent weeks, the Tour de France was blighted by revelations
of systematic doping in cycling, top U.S. athletes Dennis Mitchell
and Randy Barnes were suspended after failing drug tests, triple
Olympic gold medalist Michelle Smith-De Bruin was banned from
competitive swimming for manipulating a urine sample and Italy's
Serie A soccer league was rocked by doping allegations.
IOC officials say Thursday's meeting is designed to set the
agenda for an international doping summit scheduled for Lausanne in
January.
But it will also provide the opportunity for Samaranch to
explain his recent controversial remarks on the subject.
In an interview with a Spanish newspaper, Samaranch said the
list of banned substances should be drastically reduced and
suggested that performance-enhancing drugs should be prohibited
only if they are harmful to athletes.
The statement stunned the Olympic world, including some of
Samaranch's closest advisers.
The IOC said Samaranch had been misinterpreted, but he has not
denied making the statement.
Samaranch's remarks have brought out sharp divisions at the top
of the Olympic hierarchy, set off bickering between rival sports
administrators and weakened his own position after 1 years as the
most powerful man in international sport.
Prince Alexandre de Merode, who as chairman of the IOC medical
commission has led the organization's anti-doping campaign for more
than 30 years, said he was "aghast" at Samaranch's comments.
"People who want to reduce the [banned] list are the people who
want to let doping function," he told the French newspaper Le
Figaro.
In a startling allegation, De Merode claimed that Samaranch, who
is Spanish, was backing the philosophy of many doctors in Spain who
"have rejected the ethics of their profession."
"One must not forget that Spanish sports, for a long time, has
had tendencies toward doping," de Merode said.
Angry Spanish government officials accused de Merode of smearing
Spain's reputation and demanded that he offer an explanation.
Though he is no longer on the IOC executive board, de Merode is
scheduled to attend Thursday's meeting and will be expected to
clear the air with Samaranch.
"A lot of people are hoping [de Merode] might retire,"
Australian IOC member Phil Coles said. "He's been there such a
long time. You never know what he's going to say."
Jacques Rogge, an executive board member and vice president of
the medical commission, has also contradicted Samaranch's view that
the banned list should be slashed.
While Samaranch argues that the list is "like a book" and
needs to be simplified, Rogge says all the drugs listed should be
there because they are open to abuse by athletes.
But there is also a body of opinion that the list should be
trimmed of substances found in common medications which have no
real performance-enhancing qualities.
Australian IOC board member Kevan Gosper said he plans to
present a 10-point proposal, including the possibility of imposing
financial penalties on drug cheats.
Anita DeFrantz, an IOC vice president from the United States,
doesn't expect Thursday's meeting to formulate new policy.
"We already have a policy on drugs," she said. "It's there.
It's clear. Athletes know wht it is. This is a chance to review
where we've come, what the changes are and to plan the convention
in January."
Many Olympic officials want governments and police forces to
take a bigger role by chasing the doctors and traffickers who deal
in doping substances, as occurred during the Tour de France.
"I don't think you can get a full solution to this without help
from the civil authorities," IOC vice president Dick Pound of
Canada said.
But German board member Thomas Bach warned that athletes should
not be the police targets.
"We can't have a situation where we have to fear police raids
in the Olympic village in Sydney," he said.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
| 
