The German government yesterday unveiled a draft bill that foresees jail terms and stiff fines for top athletes, coaches and managers who use or acquire banned substances, in an effort to crack down on drug users in elite sports.
The draft bill will still need to be discussed in parliament and could be passed as early as next spring. It only targets top athletes, supported by state funds and on the national anti-doping agency’s test pool and does not affect amateurs.
Doctors or other individuals, procuring the substances, could face jail terms of up to 10 years as the entourage of the athletes is also moved more into focus.
Germany has had several big-name athletes admit to doping or caught using banned substances in recent years including cyclists Jan Ullrich and Stefan Schumacher as well as biathlete Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle, who tested positive at this year’s Sochi winter Olympics.