FIFA pushing anti-doping rules
(AP)
Updated: 2006-05-15 08:59
MONTREAL - FIFA will push for its members to adopt the world anti-doping code
in time for the World Cup next month, the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency
said Sunday.
If the code is adopted at FIFA's congress before the June 9 start of the
tournament in Germany, the world's top soccer stars would be subject to two-year
suspensions for serious doping violations instead of the lighter bans under FIFA
rules.
WADA head Dick Pound said Sunday that soccer's world governing body has
informed him that it would work to accept the code in time for the World Cup.
"The great thing about FIFA being onside is that it's the biggest, most
important sport in the world," Pound said after two days of WADA meetings. "The
World Cup is the only thing that rivals Olympic audiences.
"It's a tremendously strong message."
WADA and FIFA have been working out the details since last month, when the
Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland found FIFA was not in compliance
with WADA's standards on eight points, including its penalties for failed drug
tests.
Pound said seven of the eight points can be approved at a FIFA executive
meeting and the last at a FIFA congress in Munich in the week leading up to the
World Cup.
The two sides have been at odds for two years, with FIFA preferring a
six-month minimum ban and to judge each case on its individual circumstances.
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