COPENHAGEN, Denmark - NBA players on Olympic teams will face out-of-competition random drug tests for the 2004 Athens Games starting July 1 as part of a global program that is expected to be approved today. Under the system, which applies to athletes in all Olympic sports, drug testers can show up unannounced at a player's house at any time to ask for a sample. This is the first time NBA stars will face such comprehensive, pre-Olympic testing, U.S. drug officials said. ``There will be no differentiation between a team handball athlete and an NBA professional,'' said Terry Madden, chief executive officer of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. [continues 444 words]
COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Sports or countries that fail to comply with global drug rules should be excluded from the Olympics, IOC president Jacques Rogge said Monday. Opening a three-day summit on drugs in sports, Rogge also said countries refusing to fall into line should be barred from hosting or even bidding for the games. Rogge wants sports bodies and governments to adopt the World Anti-Doping Agency's uniform code, with sanctions applied across all sports and countries. His intervention seemed to have an effect: Later in the day, soccer's governing body settled its differences with WADA over two-year suspensions. The international cycling federation also signaled its intent to back the code despite continuing to criticize the sanctions and exemptions of U.S. pro leagues. [continues 551 words]
Britain will back the U.S. proposal for a drug agency that is not controlled by the International Olympic Committee. Barry McCaffrey, head of the White House drug policy office, is touring Europe to build support for an independent international agency to lead the fight against performance-enhancing drugs. McCaffrey opposes the IOC' s plans for such an agency, contending it would lack independence and accountability. But the IOC said Tuesday it plans to set up its agency next month and have it operating by the end of the year. [continues 483 words]
LONDON - Javier Sotomayor, who tested positive for cocaine at the Pan American Games, still hopes to defend his high jump title at the World Championships this month. But track and field's world governing body said Monday that it could ban Sotomayor from the Aug. 20-29 championships in Seville, Spain, if Cuban officials don't take any action by then. While Sotomayor faces a possible two-year ban, no suspension has yet been imposed and his status for the World Championships remains uncertain. [continues 498 words]
LAUSANNE, Switzerland - No matter how hard they tried to claim victory, International Olympic Committee leaders couldn't disguise the reality: Their authority has eroded even further. In a blunt rejection of that leadership, the 15 European Union governments refused to accept a watered-down final resolution at the Olympic drug summit, which ended Thursday. Their stance was a sharp setback for the IOC and its president, Juan Antonio Samaranch, as they struggled to regain credibility in the wake of the Salt Lake corruption scandals. [continues 932 words]
Site Scandal Is Discussed Insecret LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- The International Olympic Committee, scrambling to keep its drug summit from being overshadowed by the Olympic corruption scandals, ran into disputes yesterday over key issues in the antidoping fight. On the eve of what was billed as a watershed meeting in the war against performance-enhancing drugs, there were signs that the IOC was in for a contentious meeting. Differences emerged over the structure of a proposed international drug agency, the definition of doping and the severity of sanctions. [continues 445 words]
LAUSANNE, Switzerland - Still caught up in a widening corruption scandal, the International Olympic Committee now has to deal with another ethical issue that is potentially just as damaging: drugs. With the bribery crisis unfolding, the IOC finds itself in the tricky position of staging a world summit next week against the escalating use of performance-enhancing drugs. The timing couldn't have been worse. Does the IOC and its embattled president, Juan Antonio Samaranch have the ethical authority to lead a crusade against drugs when the committee's own standards are under attack in the biggest corruption scandal in Olympic history? [continues 1070 words]
South Korea--Australian Olympic officials are taking a hard-line approach to drugs in sports -tougher, in some ways, than the International Olympic Committee. A highly placed member of the IOC suggests it's tough enough to scare away athletes from international events in that country. But John Coates, president of the Australian Olympic Committee, refutes the suggestion by IOC executive board member Jacques Rogge that international sports organizations would refuse to stage events in Australia if athletes could face jail for doping offenses. "I don't think it's going to cost us," Coates said Tuesday. "A number of people could say the reverse: We are selecting a country that is doing everything possible to make it a clean event." The two Olympic representatives made their feelings known during an executive conference. Olympic officials are in Seoul to discuss preparations for a world anti-drug conference to be held at Lausanne, Switzerland, Feb. 2/4. The four-day conference, called in the wake of the drug scandals that marred the Tour de France, will finalize plans for the creation of a special Olympic agency to coordinate drug-testing throughout the world. [continues 400 words]
SEOUL, South Korea--The International Olympic Committee declared its opposition Monday to the possibility of athletes being jailed for taking banned performance-enhancing drugs. The Australian Olympic Committee last month said the penalty for possession, manufacturing, trafficking and use of steroids and other banned substances should be the same as those for illicit narcotics. Under the proposal, anyone importing large amounts of performance-enhancers into Australia could be jailed for life. An athlete caught using doping substances could also face criminal charges. [continues 471 words]
SYDNEY, Australia -- Moving to close a loophole exposed by the Ross Rebagliati case in Nagano, the IOC said today that marijuana and other "social drugs" will be included on its list of banned substances. The International Olympic Committee executive board agreed to draft new provisions in the Olympic Charter and the IOC medical code dealing with marijuana and other recreational drugs. IOC officials said marijuana would be added to the banned list, even though it is not considered a performance-enhancing drug, and that any athlete testing positive for the drug would be disqualified. [continues 517 words]
