Lance Armstrong affair one catalyst in expanded Canadian anti-doping funding
Less than a week after Ryder Hesjedal’s doping confession, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport received $810,000 in funding and launched a new report-doping hotline. While CCES’s activities seemed timely in light of the Victoria cyclist’s admission, the catalysts for the expanded Canadian anti-doping initiatives are much older.
“This agreement was months in the making and plans were in place quite some time ago to make the announcement,” said Danielle Côté, communications director at CCES. “The impetus to request additional funds was based on the desire to do more for anti-doping and the approach is based on the lessons learned from the Lance Armstrong scandal and the Australian Crime Commission report, which indicates wide spread use of performance and image-enhancing drugs and the growing involvement of organized crime. Closer to home, Canadian Border Services data shows steroids as the second most-often confiscated drugs at the border. In Quebec, steroids are the No. 1 most-often confiscated drugs.”
The new funding came in the form of a one-time contribution from Sport Canada of $400,000. The contribution is in addition to the regular annual funding that comes from Sport Canada. The Canadian Olympic Committee will pitch in $400,000 throughout the next three years. The Canadian Paralympic Committee added $10,000.
“Test the right athlete, at the right place, at the right time.”
The funds will help CCES expand and improve its anti-doping activities. “The CCES will be able to implement a more comprehensive approach to anti-doping in Canada and focus on making sure all Olympic and Paralympic athletes are tested during the four months prior to the Sochi Olympic and Paralympic Games. The CCES will increase its work in intelligence gathering, increase the number of athletes in the whereabouts and biological-passport programs, purchase new analytical software and, at the end of the day, test the right athlete, at the right place, at the right time.”
The importance of intelligence gathering was highlighted by the Untied States Anti-Doping Agency’s Reasoned Decision released in October 2012, which contained testimonies from pro cyclists regarding doping during the Lance Armstrong era. These testimonies led to Armstrong’s life-time ban. In January 2013, the UCI launched its own anti-doping helpline for professional riders to gather information.
