Doping in sport

WADA chief defends sanctions but says system could change'Two years for someone who is deliberately using steroids and maybe distributing them, that's just not enough... somebody who does really accidentally take a tainted supplement or a cold tablet shouldn't be getting the same penalty as somebody who is an organised cheater' - Pound

World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) chief Dick Pound has rejected criticism that sanctions against athletes who contravene doping regulations are too harsh.

Speaking from Athens, Pound said the current system was a good one.

"It's a transparent system that provides every opportunity for independent determination of these things and access to independent arbitration panels," he said.

Pound was responding to suggestions made last month by Gregory Ioannidis, the lawyer of Greek sprinters Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou, that "the strict liability rules are arbitrary and capricious".

"With all the respect that a member of my profession deserves, that is absolute nonsense," he said.

But Pound said the issue of penalties for doping offences was likely to be one of the main priorities when the body meets in Madrid later this year to formulate a new code of practice.

"The principle aspect of the changes will be that the stakeholders - that's the governments and sport - say 'We have to have a way of dealing with the really bad actors'. Two years for someone who is deliberately using steroids and maybe distributing them, that's just not enough.

"On the other hand, somebody who does really accidentally take a tainted supplement or a cold tablet shouldn't be getting the same penalty as somebody who is a deliberate and organised cheater.

Case-by-case basis

Pound said the penalty for missing doping tests should be treated on a case-by-case basis.

"You have to look at the circumstances. Is it a consistent pattern of not being where you said you were going to be? Or is that because of a family emergency you had to leave town and forgot to tell your federation? That kind of thing would enter into it."

He is not convinced, however, that the war on doping has yet been won.

"When you convince 99.99 per cent of the people involved - that's athletes and their entourage - not to do it because it is wrong and it's dangerous and when you can give them the confidence that you will catch the 0.01 per cent - because there will always be some people who do it - then I would say yes, we have won the war on doping.

"Are we there yet? No."