Thread: WADA director general cites growing underworld role in sports

WADA director general cites growing underworld role in sports

By Stephen Wilson, Associated Press
March 16, 2011

TWICKENHAM, England - World Anti-Doping Agency director general David Howman says the criminal underworld controls "a significant proportion" of world sport, including the distribution of doping substances and attempted bribery of drug-testing labs.

Howman, speaking at the World Sports Law Report's anti-doping conference outside London, says the integrity of sports is under threat due to the "increasing encroachment" of organized crime gangs involved in steroid trafficking, match-fixing, money-laundering and other corruption.

Howman also raised the possibility of offering financial rewards to national anti-doping bodies to catch dopers, suggesting that some agencies are covering up positive tests to protect their own athletes.



World Anti-Doping Agency director general David Howman

From http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/42114317/ns/sports/

Wada calls for world sport to clamp down on criminal gangs

By Owen Gibson
March 16, 2011


Wada believes that many banned drugs that end up in athletes' blood samples originate from criminal gangs. Photograph: Reuters

The head of the World Anti-Doping Agency has warned that criminal gangs now control "a significant proportion of world sport" and cautioned against complacency in tackling them.

David Howman, the Wada director general, said the criminal elements involved in match fixing, money laundering and illegal gambling were the same gangs trafficking performance-enhancing drugs. "My information is we now know the criminal underworld controls a significant proportion of world sport," he said.

Howman, who has called for a Wada-style agency to police issues of match fixing and corruption, said his information came from law enforcement agencies "far more experienced and knowledgeable than any one of us". "They say the underworld is involved in betting, in distributing steroids and it's the same jokers, not anybody new," he said. "I have been saying this for five or six years and now Interpol are justifying it. They now have the numbers and the information and they are really worried about it."

He said that criminal gangs targeted a range of sports, often at levels below the most high-profile competitions.
Speaking at the Tackling Doping in Sport 2011 conference at Twickenham, Howman also warned against complacency in the fight against performance-enhancing drugs, warning that there are "sophisticated cheats" who are increasingly able to evade detection. "The sophisticated, cheating athlete is becoming very good at cheating. This is not new, but at the top end I think it's becoming a big challenge for us."

He said that now that cycling's governing body, the UCI, had won a series of cases at the court of arbitration for sport to uphold bans based on biological passports, other sports should bring them in. "To do that, we've got to collect blood. I am extremely disappointed about the scarcity of blood collection throughout the world. There are substances that can only be detected through analysis of blood. If we don't collect it, athletes are home free. That's ridiculous."

Howman said international sports bodies were not doing enough to develop blood testing, often due to the logistics and costs involved. He also said there was evidence of attempts to bribe anti-doping officials involving offers of "thousands of dollars" that equated to many times their monthly salary and voiced fears that borderline results were too often classified as negative for fear of legal challenges.

Howman said he believed there were "hundreds" of "false negatives" every year.

He also called for clarity on the issue of whether the British Olympic Association's policy of imposing a life ban on drug cheats represented "double jeopardy".

In the wake of the Alberto Contador case, Howman said he hoped that sport would learn the lessons of the spate of cases from contaminated supplements in the early 1990s and apply them to the issue of contaminated food.
Pat McQuaid, the president of the UCI and also speaking at the event, said it would decide by 24 March whether to appeal at CAS against the decision of the Spanish Cycling Federation to exonerate Contador despite testing positive for clenbuterol, which he claimed was down to contaminated meat.

From http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011...-sport-warning

Interesting look into that side of sports. I've never really thought about gang affiliation with supplements, but why not, makes sense. Anything that has the potential to make money has the potential to attract the wrong people.