INTERNATIONAL Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge and World Anti-Doping Agency president Dick Pound have accused governments of falling short in the fight against drugs in sport.
"Both partners of WADA - the governments and the sports movement - have to do a lot, and they have to do it fast," Rogge said on the opening day of the 2007 world conference on doping in sport, in Madrid.
"WADA will only have a full credibility when the governments and the Olympic movement are compliant."
Only 70 governments from the 205 member nations of the IOC have so far ratified the UNESCO International Convention against Doping in Sport, which is the cornerstone of the IOC’s fight against drugs.
"I respectfully urge all governments to assume their full responsibility by ratifying the UNESCO convention," said Rogge, who has set a date of January 1, 2009, for governments to come into line with the IOC.
There is no coincidence that the date also sees the new world anti-doping code, which is being revised and augmented at the conference, and which is a core part of the UNESCO convention, come into force.
Countries may find themselves barred from competing in the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada, or the 2012 Summer Games in London if they do not ratify the convention.
Pound, speaking separately, identified the lack of laws in many countries, and the lack of government commitment to enact them, as a major hurdle in combatting the manufacture and distribution of drugs related to sport.
"Raw Deal is very good example … more than 50 million dollars worth of anabolic steroids were discovered during that operation, and the authorities that conducted it believe it’s the tip of the iceberg," Pound said.
"But the iceberg would have been further exposed if other countries had joined the project."
Operation Raw Deal was an international effort led by the US Drug Enforcement Administration and other US federal agencies. The operation has targeted importers of steroid materials from China, Mexico and other countries for two years.
The ongoing investigation has involved nine other countries and already resulted in 124 arrests.
"Some countries didn’t join (Raw Deal) for reasons of their own, some countries didn’t join because they had no laws to enforce," Pound said with frustration.
Reuters
Source: Rogge, Pound rage against ‘machine’
