WADA to adopt four year ban for drugs cheating...

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) have recently announced that they will be introducing a new four year ban for serious drugs offences. This will be introduced in 2013 and be applied at the start of 2015. The new rule doubles the length of existing bans for serious drug offences including anabolic steroids, human growth hormone, masking agents, trafficking and prohibited methods. WADA president John Fahey said: “It is clear from the number of submissions we received, that there is a strong desire in the world of sport, from governments and within the anti-doping community to strengthen the sanction articles in the code. Athletes must know that there is a heavy price to pay for intentional doping, that the risks are high. I am confident this draft will deliver that message loud and clear, and that our own stakeholders will agree.”

The current two year ban has meant that athletes can fail just after an Olympic Games and still compete in the next one. Many have complained that a two year ban is not much different than an athlete picking up an injury and coming back from it and as such, was not enough of a deterrent. The new four year ban changes that with athletes now guaranteed to miss an Olympic cycle which in many cases may well be the end of their career.