The Anti-Doping in Sports Bill 2009 calls for the establishment of the Bahamas Anti-Doping Commission. This is very much in step with the level of sophistication in monitoring athletes, being subscribed to by most nations where the sporting industry is a dominant factor. For The Bahamas, an anti-doping commission, if set up and operated properly, would result in full respectability.
This issue of doping is a most delicate one. Thus far, we have had a couple of situations in athletics, a few in bodybuilding and little or nothing else. We have been lucky and around the world today, The Bahamas is not tainted.
We are certainly not like that country in which a certain event was being staged earlier this year. Several dope testing agents came on the scene and contestants vanished. They knew what the findings would be.
The tendency to use enhancing drugs is powerful. The pressure to succeed and to compete at the high bar level is tremendous. In order to have a high productivity, athletes must consume supplements. There are many drug brands on the international market that give that extra push (but they are banned). More often than is acceptable, top flight athletes succumb to the temptation and reach for that extra edge. Some get by and others don’t. There is also the angle of ignorance. The list of banned substances is gigantic. Often, the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) adds to the list and the new items go unnoticed.
One could go to a pharmacy for an over-the-counter medication, only to find out later that it now contains a chemical that has just recently been banded. If the WADA folks come around and perform one of their random tests, the athlete in question ends up with a problem, sometimes a two-year suspension kind of a problem.
Yes, The Bahamas Anti-Doping Commission can play a major role for our athletes and federations. It must be well-structured and linked closely to all of the sports federations and other official entities that deal with athletes in competition. The task is a large one.
To show how demanding this undertaking is, six items from sub-section 5 (Functions of the Commission) as they appear in Part II of the Bill, follow:
The Commission shall be responsible for:
d. establishing a register for the Registered Testing Pool of national-level and international-level Bahamian athletes who are citizens or residents of The Bahamas and notifying such athletes and relevant national sporting organizations of entries made in the register.
e. directing the anti-doping program of the government specific to sports including the conducting of testing of athletes, planning, coordinating, and implementing the collection of samples, the management of test results and conducting hearings in keeping with the mandatory international standards set out in the code.
f. testing any athlete whether or not he (she) is a citizen or resident of The Bahamas.
g. notifying test results to athletes and, as the case may be, governments of countries other than The Bahamas, anti-doping organizations of other countries, or other signatories to the Code in accordance with bilateral or multilateral agreements entered into by The Bahamas with such governments, organizations or signatories.
h. entering into reciprocal testing agreements with national anti-doping organizations outside The Bahamas, in relation to any athlete.
i. encouraging and facilitating the negotiation by any sporting organization and anti-doping organization of any agreement permitting their members to be tested by authorized doping control teams from other countries.
j. cooperating with the testing and education initiatives of WADA and other anti-doping organizations.
It is indeed a tall order and very involved. Best wishes to those responsible to the government for the commission and how it functions.
Source - http://www.thenassauguardian.com/
This issue of doping is a most delicate one. Thus far, we have had a couple of situations in athletics, a few in bodybuilding and little or nothing else. We have been lucky and around the world today, The Bahamas is not tainted.
We are certainly not like that country in which a certain event was being staged earlier this year. Several dope testing agents came on the scene and contestants vanished. They knew what the findings would be.
The tendency to use enhancing drugs is powerful. The pressure to succeed and to compete at the high bar level is tremendous. In order to have a high productivity, athletes must consume supplements. There are many drug brands on the international market that give that extra push (but they are banned). More often than is acceptable, top flight athletes succumb to the temptation and reach for that extra edge. Some get by and others don’t. There is also the angle of ignorance. The list of banned substances is gigantic. Often, the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) adds to the list and the new items go unnoticed.
One could go to a pharmacy for an over-the-counter medication, only to find out later that it now contains a chemical that has just recently been banded. If the WADA folks come around and perform one of their random tests, the athlete in question ends up with a problem, sometimes a two-year suspension kind of a problem.
Yes, The Bahamas Anti-Doping Commission can play a major role for our athletes and federations. It must be well-structured and linked closely to all of the sports federations and other official entities that deal with athletes in competition. The task is a large one.
To show how demanding this undertaking is, six items from sub-section 5 (Functions of the Commission) as they appear in Part II of the Bill, follow:
The Commission shall be responsible for:
d. establishing a register for the Registered Testing Pool of national-level and international-level Bahamian athletes who are citizens or residents of The Bahamas and notifying such athletes and relevant national sporting organizations of entries made in the register.
e. directing the anti-doping program of the government specific to sports including the conducting of testing of athletes, planning, coordinating, and implementing the collection of samples, the management of test results and conducting hearings in keeping with the mandatory international standards set out in the code.
f. testing any athlete whether or not he (she) is a citizen or resident of The Bahamas.
g. notifying test results to athletes and, as the case may be, governments of countries other than The Bahamas, anti-doping organizations of other countries, or other signatories to the Code in accordance with bilateral or multilateral agreements entered into by The Bahamas with such governments, organizations or signatories.
h. entering into reciprocal testing agreements with national anti-doping organizations outside The Bahamas, in relation to any athlete.
i. encouraging and facilitating the negotiation by any sporting organization and anti-doping organization of any agreement permitting their members to be tested by authorized doping control teams from other countries.
j. cooperating with the testing and education initiatives of WADA and other anti-doping organizations.
It is indeed a tall order and very involved. Best wishes to those responsible to the government for the commission and how it functions.
Source - http://www.thenassauguardian.com/
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