William Bock, US lawyer and member of the FINA Doping Panel, hit the anti-doping nail on the head when addressing international coaches at the ASCA World Clinic here in Indianapolis today: "Doping and performance enhancement undermines everything we're about in sport. It diminishes athletic accomplishment and undermines the lessons that can be learned from athletic endeavour. It completely strips athletes of the ability to serve as role models."
A member of the FINA panel for less than a year, Bock has had a baptism of fire, dealing with five out of the most recent six cases processed by the international federation. The one he was not called to work on was that of Rafael Munoz, the Spanish 'fly ace who was let off despite having missed three out-of-competition tests in the past year.
As such, Bock was unable to speak on the most controversial of the six cases. However, he did touch on the reason why the Munoz case, in which a doctor gave evidence that the swimmers was "in a psychologically vulnerable condition" at the time of one of the missed tests, is so controversial.
Listing five cornerstones of the anti-doping programme, Bock noted that the first essential as being a set of "uniform rules that are consistently applied in a transparent fashion".
The FINA Doping Panel that sat on the Munoz allowed an explanation for why an offense was committed to result in a "go free" card, one that carried a footnote warning: miss another test any time soon and you're gone. The inconsistency that many in swimming point to is this: in a whole raft of other cases in which the panel has not only accepted that the athlete had not intended to break the WADA Code but has noted that there were mitigating circumstances that led to an offense being committed in the first place. In all those cases, a penalty was imposed. But not for Munoz, who within weeks of being in a "psychologically vulnerable condition" had set one of the fastest sprint 'fly times in the world this year to qualify for a European title race which he went on to win in Budapest last month.
Bock's full list of corner stones included:
- 1. uniform rules that are consistently applied in a transparent fashion
- 2. an effective whereabouts programme, so that swimmers can be tested out of competition
- 3. the formation of an effective anti-doping programme that reaches and inspires athletes to not use drugs for the right reasons.
- 4. effective investigations - not all drugs are detected through doping tests
- 5. strong research programmes into anti-doping that leads to what now may be hidden being revealed in the future
The FINA Panel, he noted, was primarily working on No1 on that list and their role was to "ensure that these matters are held in public view and all can see that the rules are consistently applied".
Bock praised coaches for their "dedication and life-long commitment to the development of youth and the contribution you make to young peoples' lives". Doping, he said was "a serious issue" and beyond the undermining of values he had already mentioned, "the last thing that it does is directly threaten the health of young athletes in your charge in a way that is directly contrary to the other aspect of sport: a healthy lifestyle".
He pointed coaches to www.usada.org and the global drug reference online link as a good reference point, the work that can be found there a collaboration between the anti-doping agencies of the USA, Canada and the United Kingdom.
One of his final warnings to coaches was on supplementation. "I have a personal view that supplements are not required," said Bock. But where athletes and/or coaches felt that they were required they should always remind themselves "that athletes will be held accountable" for what ends up in their bodies, and that supplements were "a frequent source of, or alleged source of, doping positives".
