It is a measure of the difficulties surrounding the issue of drugs in sport that many of the world's leading experts in the field expressed divergent views on how to combat the problem when they gathered in Dublin at the weekend for a seminar organised by the Olympic Council of Ireland. In a year dominated by the doping scandals at the Tour de France, the four-year ban on Michelle de Bruin for adulterating a urine sample and the recent revelations about a number of positive drug tests in Irish rugby, it is hardly reassuring that those charged with tackling the issue seem at odds over the way forward.
No-one doubts that the menace of drugs in sport is a complex problem which embraces banned substances, testing procedures and the punishment of athletes. But, while the issue has been with us for a long time, both scientists and sports administrators seem no nearer to the kind of coherent policy that might reassure athletes and sports fans. While the Dublin seminar was never intended to provide definitive answers, greater progress in helping to provide a more precise legal framework and greater clarity as to what constitutes a doping offence would have helped.
In outlining his own stance on drug abuse, the Minister for Sport, Dr McDaid, failed to reflect current thinking on the subject by suggesting that criminal sanctions be taken against athletes and managers who "contaminate sport with drugs". While a draconian proposal like this may capture headlines, it hardly furthers the battle against drug cheats. Ordinary drug addicts are not jailed for their addiction; does it really make sense to criminalise those who take banned substances in sport?
A more progressive approach was put forward by Dr Wade Exun, the US Olympic Committee's Drug Control Administration director, who advocated compassion and sensitivity in dealing with athletes who offend. Although the Minister may dispute the claim that substance abuse is a medical phenomenon rather than a criminal act, science with a conscience is likely to offer more in terms of rehabilitating and educating drug offenders than demonising and jailing athletes.
Although successful convictions of high-profile athletes who test positive for drugs may assuage the consciences of those who are responsible for sport, real progress will only be made in the area when these same custodians and medical experts share a common view on contentious areas such as blood testing, the legality of certain vitamin and nutritional aids and proper funding for the development of sophisticated drug detection schemes.
The shock waves of the past year may have forced the International Olympic Committee to call a major symposium on drugs in Lausanne in the new year but past prevarication by the International Olympic Committee and the conflicting views expressed in Dublin hardly augur well for anything more than a cosmetic exercise in addressing the scourge of modern day sport.