Sports minister Tracey Crouch has ruled out criminal prosecution for drugs cheats following a select committee report on doping in sport. Crouch has stated that there is no reason to go against the findings of the review into criminalising doping (2017).
”Clean and fair environment” to be set up
Crouch insisted changes being made to the UK’s anti-doping set-up will create “a clean and fair environment”.
She said changing the law “would be disproportionate in the battle to keep sport clean”, adding: “It is, however, important to note that doping in sport is already captured by existing legislation.”
The Misuse of Drugs Act and the Medicines Act 1968 carry sanctions of up to 14 years imprisonment for the trafficking and supply of banned substances.
Crouch added that the government will be taking forward other recommendations from the review including;
- ”Highlighting the risks of image and performance enhancing drugs in health and education programme’s through work with the home office and related Whitehall departments.”
- ”Pushing the World Anti Doping Agency to make therapeutic use exemptions process more transparent”
- ”UK Anti-Doping control officers being able to access all sporting events, enabling random testing at competitions.”
The report
A report to ”combat doping in sport” was published by the Digital, Culture, Media and sport committee in March. It said cyclist Bradley Wiggins and Team Sky ”crossed an ethical line” by using drugs allowed under anti-doping rules to enhance performance instead of just for medical need.
Both Team Sky and Bradley Wiggins ”strongly refuted” the claim. The report also claimed Lord Coe, the president of the IAAF, gave ”misleading” answers to parliament over when he first found out about corruption and doping allegations in athletics.
Coe told a select committee in December 2015 he was ”not aware” of specific allegations of corruption in Russian athletics before they were made in a German television documentary in December 2014. However, he said in an email to the IAAF ethics commission in August 2014: ”I have now been made aware of the allegations.”
Coe has denied thee is any discrepancy between his evidence and what the email say he knew.
The third section of the report criticised UK Athletics for poor record keeping.
The committee said it was ”shocked” that former UKA chief medical officer Dr Robin Chakraverty gave an injection of L-carnitine to Sir Mo Farah before the 2014 London Marathon, but did not record the dose on the four time Olympic champion’s medical records.
L-Carnitine is a legal substance as long as athlete’s do not exceed 50ml.
