POSTED: November 13th 2008
NewsUpdate
WADA eases football fears
KEIR RADNEDGE / Sports Features Communications
LONDON: WADA is keen to help dispel worries among from English footballers’ representatives about an upgraded dope-testing system.
Earlier this week UK Sport, which administers tests in coordination with the Football Association, revealed that it is seeking to apply an athletics-style testing regime. This would, for the first time, see an elite group of 30 players consent to random, out-of-competition, advance-notice testing.
Concerns were raised immediately by Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the players’ union (Professional Footballers’ Association) while even the Football Association conceded that details of the scheme had yet to be finalised.
The impression was that details about the scheme had leaked out in advance and that all the authorities were trying to cover some embarrassment.
David Howman, director-general of director-general of the World Anti-Doping Agency, has offered to mediate to assure smooth progress in helping football move towards full implementation of the WADA code.
He said: “I’m happy to travel anywhere in the world so we can sit down with athletes. At the end of the day, the bottom line is that we are here for them. We’re not here for the people in suits and we’re not here for people to go collect samples. We’re here to make sure the clean athlete is supported; that’s the base of our whole operation.”
Keywords · WADA · UK Sport · Football Association · Gordon Taylor · Professional Footballers’ Association
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