The head coach of UK Athletics, Charles van Commenee, has defended his role in introducing British discus thrower Brett Morse to Sweden-based Vesteinn Hafsteinsson.
“He is a very strong advocate against drugs. He is the leader of an IAAF-accredited training centre in Europe. I have no doubts about his integrity and I see no problem,” said Van Commenee.
From Telegraph.co.uk:
Morse’s former coach, Nigel Bevan, has accused Van Commenee of encouraging the 22-year-old to link up with Hafsteinsson and claims UK Athletics orchestrated the move. The governing body insists it was Morse’s own decision to switch.
Bevan had coached for Morse for four years at his Cardiff training stable, taking him from junior level to the brink of world-class standard, but the athlete severed ties with him this summer. The move to Hafsteinsson, whom UK Athletics has confirmed is now Morse’s main coach, is controversial because of the governing body’s zero-tolerance stance towards drugs.
Hafsteinsson was banned for a period of two years after he tested positive for nandrolone while competing at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
Posted on April 7th, 2012 by admin |
Surya Prasad Sharma of India has been banned for a period of two years after he tested positive for an anabolic steroid.
The ban of Sharma will expire in November 2013.
From Timesofindia.indiatimes.com:
FINA says Sharma had traces of stanozolol in a sample given at a competition in Trivadrum, India.
India’s national anti-doping agency imposed a two-year ban which expires in November 2013.
Sharma’s case is among a series of doping suspensions involving steroids handed down in recent months to Indian athletes across several Olympic sports.
The doping incident has once highlighted the fact that the use of anabolic steroids is still very much happening in professional sports despite tall claims made by government and anti-doping agencies.
Posted on April 6th, 2012 by admin |
After a positive test for anabolic steroids, Muhammed Lawal has been fined and suspended after the Nevada State Athletic Commission voted unanimously.
The second-round stoppage of Lorenz Larkin by Lawal on January 7 was overturned to a no-contest.
From Espn.go.com:
Lawal contested neither the results of the test nor the commission’s authority to hold him accountable.
“Whatever punishment you put in front of me,” Lawal said, “I’m a man and will take it like a man.”
After the hearing, Lawal took to Twitter and was critical, specifically about questioning from Zuffa commissioner Pat Lundvall as discussion turned to Lawal’s pre-fight medical questionnaire.
Lundvall asked Lawal, a native of Tennessee, about his ability to read or speak English.
Lawal sent out a profanity-laced tweet about the first woman to chair the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
Lawal was also fined (9-1) 30 percent of his purse to the tune of $24,000, and suspended for nine months retroactive to the date of the fight.
Posted on April 5th, 2012 by admin |
Retired former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich has been found guilty of doping in relation to a blood-doping scandal, according to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The decision comes three days after CAS banned another former Tour winner, Spaniard Alberto Contador, for doping. Ullrich has been banned for two years.
From Telegraph.co.uk:
The Operation Puerto scandal broke in 2006, when Spanish police launched raids that uncovered more than 200 code-named blood bags, some of which were linked to cyclists.
Ullrich, who retired in 2007 after also winning an Olympic gold and silver medal at the Sydney 2000 Games, became the first German to win the Tour de France in 1997.
He had denied being involved in the scandal but CAS said that, based on the evidence, Ullrich, who had waited for more than five years for a final ruling, had engaged “at least” in blood doping.
“Given the volume, consistency and probative value of the evidence…the Panel came to the conclusion that Jan Ullrich engaged at least in blood doping in violation of Article 15.2 of the UCI (International Cycling Federation) anti-doping rules,” CAS said.
Posted on April 4th, 2012 by admin |
Officials of the UK government may be rendered helpless if London 2012 Olympic Games athletes bring anabolic steroids into the country for personal use.
This is primarily due to the fact that the use of steroids is not a criminal offence in the country and only trafficking of steroids constitutes a criminal offence.
From Telegraph.co.uk:
Australia, Canada, China and Italy all toughened drug importation rules before hosting the Olympics but the Government says there will be no similar legislative change in time for the 2012 Games.
However, the Government says it is serious about stamping out the abuse of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs and will submit a formal application to the World Anti-Doping Agency that recommends athletes should face at least a four-year ban, or life, for serious drug offences.
“We are making a clear pitch for tougher sentences and urging the need for a universal sentencing policy,” said Hugh Robertson, the Olympics minister. “We would like to see at least four years, if not rather longer than that.”
Posted on April 3rd, 2012 by admin |
Spanish police have arrested ten suspects in Barcelona and Madrid while smashing an international sports doping ring allegedly linked to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
The network was implicated in positive doping test of competitors at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, cycling’s 2010 Tour of Spain and 2009 Tour of Portugal, as well as the 2010 Spanish athletics championships, police said.
From Telegraph.co.uk:
The operation began last summer when police were investigating a shop in Mataro, near Barcelona, that sold anabolic steroids to sportspeople, officers said.
The shop was allegedly linked to a Catalan athlete’s positive test for a synthetic steroid called EPO, or erythropoietin, in the 2010 Spanish athletics championships.
The shop received EPO from Morocco via two people, one of whom was a nurse at a dialysis centre, “where he is suspected of stealing different types of EPO.”
Alberto BN was head of the network and that in seven raids they seized documents, growth hormones and various steroids including a type of EPO known as CERA (continuous erythropoietin receptor activator), said police.
Posted on April 2nd, 2012 by admin |
Following a tip-off about a hydroponic cannabis set-up on the NSW central coast, a man has been charged after police found a large number of cannabis plants in a home.
Police executed a search warrant on the home in Turpentine Street, Wyoming after receiving information about the house.
From News.ninemsn.com.au:
A 32-year-old man was arrested at the house, before police then searched his property nearby, discovering 524 grams of cannabis, a large sum of cash, anabolic steroids and prescription drugs.
He has been charged with drug-related offences, recklessly deal with the proceeds of crime, possess prescribed restricted substance, use electricity without authorisation and alter or interfere with meter without authority.
Police officials found 152 cannabis plants, 13kg of dried cannabis, cash, and anabolic steroids.
Posted on April 1st, 2012 by admin |
According to the press center of the National Customs Agency, a large amount of anabolic steroids have been seized by custom inspectors at Lesovo checkpoint on the Bulgarian-Turkish border.
The steroids were discovered in a Turkish bus that was traveling on its regular route from Bulgaria to Turkey.
From Focus-fen.net:
The vehicle arrived at the checkpoint at 1:10 a.m. local time. The two drivers and stewardess said they were transporting nothing that needed to be declared. Despite that the customs inspectors carried out a check and found a large amount of anabolic steroids in a hollow behind the rear tires. They took out 46,600 tablets, 1,774 ampoules and 30 different solutions.
The second driver, a 35-year-old Turkish citizen, admitted having hidden the anabolic steroids in the bus and was detained.
An investigating customs inspector is currently looking into the case and pre-trial proceedings were opened.
Posted on March 31st, 2012 by admin |
Every high school baseball players wants to enter the world of professional baseball after completing the school and this goal could tempt athletes to practice unethical behaviors, such as taking performance enhancing drugs (PED).
“If a student takes these PEDs and has a fantastic high school career,” Pitcher senior Nick Vanek said, “he could get drafted really early out of high school and possibly be playing Major League Baseball (MLB) in three to four years without going to college. [However] if he were to go to college, he could still get an amazing scholarship and practically get school paid for.”
From My.hsj.org:
This use of PEDs occurs in both professional and high school leagues. The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) has a relatively new policy, established July 2011, in place for drug testing baseball players.
According to the IHSA, a baseball team is eligible for random drug testing once they reach regionals. The penalty for a positive test is a forfeit of player eligibility for a full year and any individual awards.
Varsity head baseball coach Darren Orel feels that there are problems with this current IHSA policy.
According to Orel, taking PEDs without getting caught would “probably not be too difficult because it’s so random. If you look at all the teams in all the regionals and in all the different levels, the odds are probably small to get caught. I’m sure if they want to [use PEDs], they can get away with it. It isn’t easy, but fairly easy.”
The slim chance of being caught, under the IHSA policy, along with the recent suspicion that Milwaukee Brewer left fielder and reigning National League Most Valuable Player (NL MVP) Ryan Braun tested positive for PED use but escaped consequences enhances the temptation.
“[The athlete] would receive a ton of punishment,” Vanek said. “Not only would the IHSA step in, but they would be breaking the athletic code and get in trouble with the school. When the IHSA steps in, it can result in a loss for the whole team. They can take away any championships you won while that player was on the team and ban the team from any further playoff games.”
Posted on March 30th, 2012 by admin |
The suspension of Alberto Contador for his positive Clenbuterol test at the 2010 Tour de France was in keeping with the rules as they stand, according to Oscar Freire (Katusha) who is lining up in pursuit of a fourth Milan-San Remo title.
“The sanction isn’t just, but these are the rules that we have in cycling and nobody has said or done anything to change them,” Freire told Marca. “If you want to compete here, you have to accept them.”
From Cyclingnews.com:
Freire refused to be drawn either way on the thorny issue of Contador’s level of culpability in the matter. “Is he innocent? Maybe yes or maybe no,” Freire said. “Very few of those who test positive accept their guilt. It could be a question of food contamination…”
While Contador is sidelined until August following last month’s Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling, another Spanish rider has enjoyed a winning return from suspension, Alejandro Valverde. Freire is an admirer of the Movistar rider, who has captured four wins since his ban for his links to Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes expired in January.
“I prefer Valverde to Contador. If you come to a sprint with Contador, you know you can win. Not with Valverde,” he said.
Posted on March 29th, 2012 by admin |
