Doping in Sport - Bi-Weekly Press round-up #84
A British boxer due to fight on the Usyk-Fury II card tests positive, WADA won't contest Sinner contamination scenario and Real Madrid allegedly conducted 'internal anti-doping controls' in the past.
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The British boxer Dennis McCann, who was due to fight on the undercard of Usyk-Fury II, has failed a doping test conducted by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) (link). It has since emerged that McCann had only recently started working with the same doctor as Conor Benn (link), who failed two VADA tests himself in 2022, only to escape sanction from UKAD and the British Boxing Board of Control. The doctor, an expert in testosterone replacement therapy, has previously described how fighters can circumvent drug tests (link).
The former BALCO chemist Victor Conte questioned whether the effectiveness of VADA’s anti-doping programme has shown UKAD’s testing to be inept. “Has the @ukantidoping testing of boxers possibly been inept for many years and the culture is now being exposed by more stringent testing by an outside entity?” (link). I wrote about this issue in 2022; “In contrast to the FA, UKAD and almost all other national anti-doping agencies, Goodman’s agency test every sample they collect for both synthetic testosterone and EPO. The agency have a catch rate of four per cent, compared with UKAD’s 0.2 per cent. This arguably shows how efficient VADA’s testing programme has been,” (link).
Meanwhile, the British boxer Chris Eubank Jr. highlighted that the card McCann was due to compete on is headlined by Tyson Fury, who tested positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone in 2015. “All these dirty drug cheats make me sick. Guess this one looked at the main event & thought…well Fury got away with it so I guess I could too,” (link). You can read the full decision in Fury’s case here (link).
The English UFC star Tom Aspinall told Piers Morgan Uncensored that Jon Jones cannot be considered the greatest fighter of all time because he has failed several drug tests. In the same interview, Aspinall says that he has never taken performance-enhancing drugs but would consider undergoing testosterone therapy once he has retired. “To be a healthy, older gentleman I will probably do some kind of testosterone replacement therapy (link). You can read about Jon Jones’ past doping cases here (link).
WADA’s Director General Olivier Niggli says that the agency will not be contesting the validity of the contamination scenario put forth by the world number one Jannik Sinner during its upcoming appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. “It was considered in the decision that there was no fault on the part of Sinner. Our position is that there is still a responsibility of the athlete in relation to his entourage. So, it is this legal point that will be debated,” (link).
Meanwhile, the Wimbledon 2022 finalist Nick Kyrgios has again spoken about the issue of doping in tennis. “For me personally, I've never done it and I won't ever do it,” (link). The full segment on doping can be watched from 34.56 onwards (link). The head of the Italian Tennis Federation Andrea Binaghi, who has seen five Italian players test positive for clostebol under his presidency, says that Kyrgios is an ‘imbecile’. “(Sinner) remains one of the cleanest and most exemplary athletes in world sport, then this accident happened but it is becoming a school case,” (link).
Iga Swiatek’s coach Wim Fissette, who was aware of her failed doping test when he agreed to work with the player, says that he does not think Swiatek should have been suspended. “But even if it had come to that, the opportunity to work with someone like Iga was an obvious decision. I had no doubts,” (link). You can read the full interview here (link). Meanwhile, the French Open tournament director Guy Forget has commented on the recent doping cases in tennis (link), as has the player Adrian Mannarino (link).
The Russian tennis player Karen Khachanov says he was annoyed at how often he was drug tested in the past. “About 40 times per season. It annoyed me a lot, they were doing checks almost every week. They could even check several times during the same tournament. But I got used to it. It is now part of the profession,” (link).
Hull Live reports that the Hull City Footballer Oscar Zambrano has been suspended for 16 months after he tested positive for a diuretic while playing for LDU Quito in Ecuador (link). Earlier reports suggest that Zambrano blamed the finding on an anti-allergy medication (link). The Hull City owner says he will continue to support the player; “It's not finished yet, and now he will apply for another judgment. I think we will see the real result after some time. I'm here whenever Oscar needs me, and we will support him as much as we can,” (link).