Doping

As some players and fixers desperately try to restore their incomes and athletes risk the temptation of performance enhancers and other drugs while sport stands still, anti-doping and governing bodies are feeling the pressure.

World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) President Witold Banka has warned that the coronavirus pandemic should not be used as an excuse for violating doping rules, vowing that all cheaters will be caught.

American long jumper and sprinter Jarrion Lawson has had a four-year doping ban annulled by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which ruled that a prohibited steroid entered the athlete’s body through “contaminated beef.”

The Russian embassy in Rome has issued a statement saying that Italian police officers found no evidence of prohibited medicine usage by Russian biathletes during a raid conducted on Saturday.

Russian biathlete Alexander Loginov who was subjected to a police search hours before Saturday’s race has commented on the raid saying that he and his coach were suspected of using prohibited drugs.

In a well-worn story with more ups and downs that a playground seesaw, Russia could again lose top spot in the 2014 Sochi Olympics medals table after biathlete Evgeny Ustyugov was reportedly found guilty of doping violations.

Russia’s four-year sporting ban has demonstrated the extent of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) ability to decide the fate of entire nations in the world of sport. How did a single bureaucracy gain such absolute power?