Even as he launched an anti-doping education campaign targeting athletes at the Youth Olympics, World Anti-Doping Agency president John Fahey took aim at sports which refuse to lead by example.
Fahey yesterday said Major League Baseball is “misleading” the public by its continued refusal to institute a transparent and rigorous drug testing program.
Fahey, who in March called on the MLB and its players’ union to start testing for human growth hormone (HGH), says the integrity of the game will eventually be called into question and fans will show their disapproval by refusing to attend games.
The agency has repeatedly criticized MLB for what it considers inadequate testing.
Management and the baseball players union have said they would accept a validated urine test for HGH and that their science advisers are checking into the accuracy of the blood test for HGH.
“Ultimately, I think the integrity of sport will come into question and in that context they have to think about the future of their game,” Fahey said of the absence of a highest-level drug testing program.
“The public doesn’t like to be taken for a ride and they will march accordingly,” Fahey said. “If you say come to the contest, am I going to watch ‘who has the best chemist?’ You don’t go to watch that.”
Fahey said the agency has tried to talk with the MLB and set up meetings but the MLB “effectively ignored us.”
“Baseball is the most recalcitrant,” he said, comparing MLB with the National Football League, National Basketball League and National Hockey League among the major US leagues. “You had the Mitchell inquiry and clear and concise recommendations from it and they effectively did nothing.”
In contrast, Fahey said the agency was in talks with the NFL about incorporating some aspects of drug testing into a future collective bargaining agreement and have for the first time managed to “get into the front door” of the NHL to discuss the issue.
“We continue to reach out,” he said. “I think the interesting thing is that we are making good progress in ice hockey. We certainly have gotten through the front door. We have movement there.”
However, Fahey said that the agency would have to be patient in working with any sports league in the US because of private ownership — a contrast from the most of the rest of the world where testing usually is overseen by an international federation or government sports testing authorities.
Fahey was in Singapore to unveil the agency’s first anti-doping campaign aimed at young athletes. The program aims to teach athletes through a computer game the benefits of making health choices as well as the dangers of doping.
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