Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates says the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) should be given increased powers to enable it to catch drug cheats in the absence of positive samples.
Coates told the committee’s annual general meeting yesterday that a lack of investigative powers left ASADA “with its hands tied behind its back” as it attempted to deal with doping scandals at Australian Football League club Essendon and Cronulla’s National Rugby League team.
Coates repeated his call for regulations forcing athletes to attend an interview, answer questions, give information and produce documents, even if it means incriminating themselves.
Photo: AFP
ASADA decided last month not to appeal a decision to acquit 34 past and present Essendon players of drug charges over an illegal supplement and handed the case over to the World Anti-Doping Agency.
In August last year, 12 current and former Cronulla players accepted one-year bans for using the same supplement.
“When it comes to investigating most of the nine antidoping rule violations which are not based on the presence of a prohibited substance in an athlete’s sample, ASADA has been largely left with its hands tied behind its back,” Coates said.
“For most of these anti-doping rule violations ... there was not a positive sample,” Coates said.
“These investigative powers have led to [cyclist] Lance Armstrong and [sprinter] Marion Jones being sanctioned and I don’t know when it’s going to happen, but at some stage it certainly needs to be strengthened,” he added.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Forget Real Madrid, Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, the world’s best soccer team — statistically speaking — might be a little-known outfit from the closed central Asian nation of Turkmenistan. Founded last year, Arkadag, named in honor of former Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, have been unstoppable, notching up 36 consecutive domestic victories in a run still ongoing. The side have not lost a single competitive match and swept to a league and cup double in their inaugural season — success unthinkable almost anywhere else. However, in Turkmenistan, it could hardly have gone any other way. The energy-rich country is one of the most closed
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping