Comrades Marathon champion Ludwick Mamabolo has called for the SA Institute for Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS) to educate athletes on correct procedures and their rights, regarding the post-race testing process.

The 36-year-old Mamabolo was cleared of doping charges recently, after his A and B samples tested positive for methylhexaneamine, with an inquiry committee finding multiple irregularities in the testing process.

Mamabolo received his trophy, gold medal, and R300, 000 winner’s cheque at Comrades House in Pietermaritzburg eleven months after winning the annual ultra-marathon in KwaZulu-Natal.

“I sacrificed Christmas and nice times with my family in order to (win) this medal, but they call me a drug user,” an emotional Mamabolo, wearing his medal around his neck, said at a media conference.

“Let this be a learning curve – athletes, Athletics SA, and SAIDS must come together.” “I assure you I’m not a drug addict. I do not smoke and I have not had a drink my whole life,” he said.

“I know athletes who take drugs, they all know each other, but I have been vindicated.”

Mamabolo became the first South African to win the Comrades “down” run since 2005 and will line up in Durban next month, in an attempt to become the first local runner to win the “up” run in 21 years.

Tags: Comrades Marathon, doping charges

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In the last five years, forty-one sportsmen were caught doping in Qatar in the last five years. The list of athletes include sportsmen from disciplines like football, volleyball, handball, and weightlifting were found using opiates, anabolic steroids and a mix of stimulants, with hashish being the most common.

“These were all sports-related cases, where we found players violating the rules by using doping substances,” Dr Naser Al Ansari, Chairman of Qatar National Anti-doping Commission (QNADC) said while speaking on the sidelines of a two-day symposium on the history of doping and anti-doping organized by the Anti-Doping Lab Qatar (ADLQ) and the Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum.

According to Dr Al Ansari, the bigger challenge is to catch the people involved in the illicit doping trade in Qatar.

“These athletes get help from outside, sometimes from their doctors, coaches or peers. There are people involved in the trade of transporting doping medicines- and we do not have a law to punish them,” he said.

“We talked to the Qatar Olympic Committee and initially there was possibility to draft a law, but it’s not an easy thing to do,” Dr Al Ansari said. “The anti-doping law will help us deal with the challenges because the problem is not just related to sports. You need to catch the people from outside who are providing substances to athletes,” he added.

Tags: anabolic steroids, doping, football, handball, volleyball, weightlifting

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A former Chelsea and Portugal playmaker has tested positive for banned substance Furosemide following Fluminense’s match against Boavista on March 30 in the Campeonato Carioca.

Furosemide, a non-competitive subtype-specific blocker of GABA-A receptors, is a loop diuretic used in the treatment of congestive heart failure and edema; the drug is included on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned drug list due to its alleged use as a masking agent for other drugs. Like other loop diuretics, Furosemide acts by inhibiting NKCC2, the luminal Na-K-2Cl symporter in the thick ascending limb of the loop of Henle.

Fluminense said that the Portuguese midfielder, Deco, who plays for Brazilian champions Fluminense, has already hired lawyers to defend him. Deco vehemently denied any wrongdoing and said the result likely stemmed from contaminated vitamins.

The 35-year-old is believed to have ingested the substance through some vitamin supplements that he purchased at a pharmacy. According to reports, Deco has appointed solicitors to take action against the company that produces the product he bought.

The 35-year Deco faces a suspension of up to two years if found guilty by the sports tribunal of Brazil.

The news comes just a few weeks after another doping case hit Brazilian football, when Vasco da Gama midfielder Carlos Alberto tested positive for two banned substances following a 3-2 win over Deco’s Fluminense side in early March.

Tags: Boavista, Campeonato Carioca, Chelsea, Fluminense, Furosemide

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The image of Spain has taken a blow ever since the controversial court ruling on the doping scandal known as Operation Puerto and many believe that the case could have a direct effect on the Madrid 2020 Olympic bid.

Welsh former Olympic champion Nicole Cooke, who won the gold in road cycling for Britain in Beijing 2008, was particularly hard when she asked members of the International Olympic Committee not to vote for Madrid while selecting the host of the 2020 Games in September.

“We now need our representatives to send the most clear message to the Spanish authorities,” said the athlete. “Sir Craig Reedie, Sir Philip Craven, Adam Pengilly, make your views public and crystal clear. This is not an area for inaction or even for ‘behind-closed-doors’ persuasions. Please, let us not be quiet on this issue,” she said.

The ruling on Operation Puerto, one of the largest doping networks discovered anywhere in the world, has received negative reactions from across the world after the main accused, Eufemiano Fuentes, was handed a one-year prison sentence and a four-year ban from the practice of sports medicine but what surprised the most was the judge’s order to destroy the more than 200 bags of blood that were seized from the doctor in 2006, many of whose owners have never been identified or penalized.

The seven years the trials against a doctor for doping-related offences took to reach a ruling had a negative effect on the country’s image, and the ruling itself dealt it a major blow.

Tags: doping scandal, Eufemiano Fuentes, Operation Puerto

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Mahmood Al Zarooni is all set to appeal against the length of his ban of eight years for doping racehorses. The former Godolphin trainer, recruited by the racing operation of Sheikh Mohammed in March 2010, has admitted giving banned anabolic steroids to 15 horses.

The 37-year-old Dubai-born trainer was banned following a disciplinary hearing convened three days after news of the scandal broke.

Godolphin, on April 22 this year, issued a statement in which it said 11 horses, including unbeaten 1000 Guineas contender Certify, had tested positive and Al Zarooni admitted a “catastrophic mistake”. Zarooni said he had not been aware anabolic steroids were banned at all times in British racing. Al Zarooni, in the findings of the panel, published on 30 April, was accused of “deliberate flouting” of the rules and “widespread systematic misuse of illegal substances”.

Zarooni went on to admit that he smuggled the anabolic steroids into the UK in his luggage from Dubai. He also said he made up five unmarked syringes full of drugs and passed them to an unqualified veterinary assistant through a car window to inject into the horses. All 15 horses that were named by Zarooni as admitted with steroids have been banned from racing for six months until 9 October.

Al Zarooni will be represented at the appeal hearing by William Clegg QC, instructed by Russell-Cooke Solicitors of London; a date has not been set for an appeal to the British Horseracing Authority.

Tags: anabolic steroids, doping, Mahmood Al Zarooni

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The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has sentenced Amanda Sister and the Banyana Banyana stand-in team doctor who was involved in abuse of a banned substance at the 2012 African Women’s Championship hosted in Equatorial Guinea.

The ban on Amanda has been reduced from two years to one, while the doctor that administered the banned substance admitted liability and has been banned for four years from participating in any football activity.

The South African Football Association (SAFA) has also reported the conduct of the doctor to the South African Institute for Drug Free Sport (SAIDS) and the player will serve her one-year suspension, which runs until December 16, 2013.

“It is very unfortunate for the player but SAFA would like to warn all athletes that, in terms of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) rules, they are held responsible for any treatment administered to them by professionals. Medical practitioners are also warned not to place athletes at risk by administering banned substances during treatment,” said SAFA CEO Dennis Mumble. “We also respectfully request the media to respect the privacy of Ms Sister during this difficult period,” Mumble concludes.

The South African Football Association has provided psychological support for Sister since January 2013 to help her cope with the setback.

Tags: Drug Free Sport, football

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Lance Armstrong, who until last year ranked among the wealthiest and most popular athletes in the world, could become bankrupt with the cyclist facing the federal government in a legal fight with tens of millions of dollars at stake.

The disgraced cyclist is being sued by the U.S. Justice Department to recover at least the $40 million that were paid by the U.S. Postal Service paid to sponsor Armstrong’s team, claiming he was “unjustly enriched” by using anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing drugs to win the Tour de France seven times.

His best chance at protecting his personal fortune could be in convincing a jury the government has already earned plenty from him, regardless of whether he cheated to win the Tour de France and lied to cover it up. According to the legal team of Armstrong, the benefits the Postal Service reaped from putting its name on Armstrong’s jersey was worth far more than that. Four studies that were commissioned by the Postal Service had revealed that the contract was worth more than $100 million in worldwide exposure for the agency at a time it was trying to boost its brand.

“The U.S. Postal Service benefited tremendously from its sponsorship of the cycling team,” Armstrong attorney Elliot Peters said when the government filed its complaint. “Its own studies repeatedly and conclusively prove this. The USPS was never the victim of fraud. Lance Armstrong rode his heart out for the USPS team, and gave the brand tremendous exposure during the sponsorship years.”

Paul Scott, an attorney for Floyd Landis, the former Armstrong teammate who brought the whistle-blower lawsuit, dismissed the argument that the Postal Service wasn’t damaged.

“It was all a fraud,” Scott said. “U.S. Postal would not have paid a dime if they had known the truth.”

Tags: Floyd Landis, Lance Armstrong, performance enhancing drugs, Tour de France

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An investigation into individuals involved in the Lance Armstrong doping scandal has been opened by Spanish prosecutors.

The Spanish Anti-Doping Agency recently said that prosecutors in the eastern province of Alicante are examining the Spanish citizens mentioned in a report by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency into the doping activities of Armstrong. The agency said the investigation is currently limited to Alicante, although the report by the United States Anti-Doping Agency indicates Armstrong’s ring extended to other parts of Spain.

The USADA report that led to the eventual confession by the 41-year-old disgraced cyclist that he had doped to win seven Tour de France titles from 1999-2005 mentions Spanish doctors Luis Garcia del Moral and Pedro Celaya and trainer Pepe Marti.

The move comes just days after a Madrid court found Doctor Eufemiano Fuentes guilty of endangering the health of athletes through blood doping; Fuentes was given a suspended sentence of one year and the judge ordered the destruction of evidence that could implicate more athletes.

Meanwhile, Armstrong is facing the federal government in a legal fight with tens of millions of dollars at stake. A loss for the disgraced cyclist could bankrupt him, who until last year ranked among the wealthiest and most popular athletes in the world. His best chance at protecting his personal fortune may rest in convincing a jury that the government has already earned plenty from him, regardless of whether he cheated to win the Tour de France through performance enhancing drugs and lied to cover it up.

Tags: Lance Armstrong doping scandal, performance enhancing drugs, Tour de France

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Australia’s Olympic boss John Coates, speaking at an Australian Olympic Committee meeting, said his organization was watching the investigation the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority was undertaking into the NRL and AFL.

Coates has introduced the strictest anti-doping laws in Australian sport, with athletes and officials required to truthfully answer any questions put to them by the anti-doping body ASADA.

“It would be naïve to not expect that some Australian athletes and officials in Olympic sports have so far fallen through the net because of inefficient (drugs) testing,” Coates said.

Under the new AOC Anti-Doping By-Law, which was recently approved by the AOC Executive, athletes and officials must fully co-operate with ASADA even if to do so might incriminate or expose them to a penalty.

The new law obligates athletes and officials to give information, produce documents, and answer questions as required by the anti-doping agency.

“To be clear, failure to co-operate with and assist ASADA, in every way, can result in an athlete or official being ruled out of an Olympic Team,” he said. “They may be ineligible for membership of or selection to any Team, or to receive funding from or to hold any position within the AOC for such period as determined by the AOC.”

Coates said it was important to uphold the integrity in Olympic sport and “welcomed” the assistance that Customs and the Australian Crime Commission was providing ASADA.

Tags: anti-doping laws in Australian sport, John Coates, Olympic sport

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Vasco da Gama forward Carlos Alberto may be out for many months after news that he failed a doping test after the 3-2 Guanbara Cup semifinal win over Fluminense back in March.

The former Porto player now faces an uncertain future though Coach Paulo Autuori still lends his support for the player who lifted the Champions League with the Portuguese side in 2004. “I talk to him every day. He has our full support and this time it’ll be no different. Any athlete will receive support in any ways [at Vasco],” Autuori said.

The legal representative of Alberto was cagey over whether or not the player would contest any doping charge. He said: “We have to present his defense today, which is the limit date for that. If we don’t, the player will be automatically charged [for doping]. If we do present it, we have a 50 percent chance. We can’t talk much, it’s a complicated process.”

In the last few months, doping in sports is a regular sight with many sportsmen from disciplines like cycling, football, volleyball, handball, and weightlifting been accused of or admitting to making the use of banned performance enhancing drugs. Despite tall claims and talks of stringent control and innovative testing methods, the use of banned drugs like anabolic steroids is still on the rise, especially among amateur and professional players.

Tags: anabolic steroids, cycling, doping test, Fluminense, football, handball, performance enhancing drugs, vasco da gama, volleyball, weightlifting

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