Attesting to Fair Play

2006-10-05

Run faster, jump higher, go farther and above all, be the very best.

These are just some of the pressures faced by Olympic calibre athletes. They know that a little more muscle will allow a little more lift, and a little more oxygen will allow a little more distance.

So, how far will they go for an edge?

Some athletes are willing to go as far as paying for performance-enhancing drugs.

But is it worth the price?

Drugs in sport is a serious problem. Ethically, the athlete is cheating. Physically, they are destroying their bodies. And, when they get caught, the public loses faith and the athlete loses everything.

Like many countries, Canada has faced its share of doping infractions. But, rather than ignoring the issue, it has taken a leading role on the international scene in doing something about it.

That something is the World Anti-Doping Code.

Adopted by governments and sports organizations including the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the main objectives of the Code are prevention and deterrence.

"It’s a document that comprises rules regarding antidoping around the world, accepted by all governments of the world, and also by all sporting organizations around the world," says Rune Andersen, Director of Standards and Harmonization at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Applying existing standards

The code incorporates elements from a number of existing international best practices and standards, including ISO/PAS 18873, international protocol for doping control, which provides guidelines for implementing a doping control program based on the International Organization for Standardization’s renowned ISO 9000 series of quality management system standards.

In addition to its contributions to the development of ISO/PAS 18873, through its leadership in the International Anti-Doping Arrangement (IADA), Canada was also one of the first countries in the world to implement ISO/PAS 18873 as part of its national anti-doping program.

Canada at the helm of new code

The decision to establish the World Anti-Doping Code and an independent organization to deal with doping arose out of the 1998 Tour de France when a number of banned substances were seized in a police raid. The following year, in advance of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, a document calling for the creation of an independent anti-doping agency was presented at the World Conference on Doping in Sport. By the end of the year WADA was established and Richard Pound, a Canadian and long-time supporter of tougher drug-testing, was named president of the organization.

In 2001, the agency’s headquarters were moved to Montreal where work began on the code, the document that would become the framework for countries and sporting organizations to develop their anti-doping policies.

For Canada, this initiative is a great achievement. In 1988, when the country was drawn into the international spotlight by sprinter Ben Johnson’s infamous drug scandal, the Canadian government launched the Dubin Inquiry to look into the doping situation in sports. The end result was a report calling for an international set of rules for drug testing.

The report led to the establishment of the Canadian Anti- Doping Organization in 1991 which was put in charge of developing an anti-doping program for the country. The organization is now known as the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) and is Canada’s representative at WADA.

"Canada has played a very important role in the development of the code," says Andersen. "Canada has given very valuable input to the creation of the code’s standards which have been used in Canada for many years."

Anne Brown, Senior Manager of Planning and Program Implementation at CCES agrees, adding that the Code is having a positive impact on Canadian sport.

"For our Canadian athletes, the code means that they will know what to expect abroad. We have always had a standardized way in Canada for collecting samples for athletes and protecting their rights during this process. The code puts in place mechanisms so that the athletes know that they can expect the same process in New Zealand that they will undergo in the United States or Denmark. That is a great step forward for athletes," says Brown.

Deciphering the code

The code consists of four main sections. The first specifies the prohibited drug list and anti-doping rules for testing, hearings and sanctions; the second focuses on education and research, the third outlines the roles and responsibilities of the signatories to the code, and the fourth refers to acceptance, compliance, modification and implementation.

"One challenge is to have testing systems which are effective in order to take away those who want to cheat in sport," says Andersen. "The other challenge is to have an educational system so everyone is aware of the dangers of doing the drugs and the ethical side of being a cheater."

Among the guidelines referenced in the first section is ISO/IEC 17025, the international standard for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories. The code stipulates that only testing results from accredited laboratories that have demonstrated that they meet the requirements set out in the standard will be accepted. In Canada, these testing and calibration laboratories are accredited by the Standards Council of Canada.

Although voluntary, both the IOC and the IPC require countries to conform to the code. Essentially, if a country wants to participate in the Olympics, they must adopt the code as their anti-doping program. Compliance is monitored by WADA. International sporting federations are also being asked to comply with the code.

"The code is not the rule in itself. It has to be each organization that implements the provisions of the code into their rules," says Andersen.

Having this standardized set of rules is very important in the fight against doping in sports. Because many of the prohibited substances listed in the code may also be found in common over-counter products, such as cold medications, it is important that athletes are clear about what they can and cannot take. An internationally recognized prohibited list of substances eliminates this confusion and ensures everyone gets the same treatment.

Ensuring that all athletes are treated equally is another reason for setting out a single and accepted set sample collection and testing procedures. But the code isn’t just about the testing. It is also a way to encourage all countries to take the responsibility to educate their athletes, not only about how the anti-doping procedures work in international competitions, but more importantly why they should not be using banned substances.

Andersen says that national sporting authorities can influence athletes to make the right choices, by setting a good example themselves. "The countries are close to the athletes in building the right attitudes," says Andersen. "They should say no because they have gotten the right attitudes from sports leaders, coaches and trainers."

He says that countries need to emphasize all the risks taken by athletes every time they use performance-enhancing drugs, and that the code is another means of showing them just how much they have to lose.

The code sets out strict penalties for cheaters. If caught, an athlete’s records are disqualified and any medals won are taken away. They are also banned from competition for two years for a first infraction, and barred for life if they are caught again.

Even scarier than losing a medal is that an athlete risks their health, and even their life.

Performance enhancing drugs have unwanted physical and psychological side-effects says Andersen. "If you do steroids, women become men. That’s one of the side effects. For men they have kidney problems and liver problems. There are many, many side effects."

Andersen says implementation of the code is already helping to make the doping situation better than it was. Even if it may seem like drug use by athletes is increasing, according to Andersen, what the numbers really show is that more extensive and reliable testing is leading to more cases of doping being caught.

"All athletes around the world have an equal chance to be treated in the same way," he says. "The way athletes are being tested, the follow-up and the sanctions are now harmonized and equal for all athletes."

When testing becomes equal and the cheaters are removed from the mix, sport becomes fair again, restoring our confidence in the athletes and the sport. By removing drugs from the equation, the pressures that athletes feel are the one’s that will lead them to be their very best, and not the one’s that will lead them to lose it all.

-30-

This article first appeared in volume 32 of CONSENSUS Magazine, 2005.  The information it contains was accurate at the time of publication but has not been updated or revised since, and may not reflect the latest updates on the topic.  If you have specific questions or concerns about the content, please contact the Standards Council of Canada.

Back