Last week’s revelation that an astonishing 109 footballers taking part in this summer’s Under-17 World Cup tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid clenbuterol after eating contaminated meat poses a serious threat to world sport.
Both Fifa and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) are taking no action against any of the affected players because of the “compelling evidence” that tainted meat was to blame, while WADA has dropped two separate cases involving clenbuterol ‘positives’ in Mexico and warned athletes to “exercise extreme caution” about what they eat when visiting the South American country.
But the fall-out extends well beyond Mexico’s borders. Telegraph Sport today highlights the case of 22 year-old British sprint hurdler Callum Priestley, who is serving a two-year ban after testing positive for clenbuterol while on an official UK Athletics training camp in South Africa in 2010.
His claims that he had eaten contaminated meat at the UK Athletics hotel, and that he was even treated for food poisoning at the time of his drug test, failed to carry any weight with his disciplinary panel and his punishment was confirmed.
Although his ban expires in February, Priestley, once considered one of Britain’s brightest young track prospects, is so disillusioned by his experience that he has now quit the sport.
Michele Verokken, the former head of anti-doping in Britain, is convinced he was innocent though whether he was really telling the truth we will never be known for sure because once the meat was consumed, the evidence vanished.
Under the WADA code, the onus is on the athlete to prove his or her innocence, which Priestley was unable to do.
This central tenet of anti-doping regulations, that athletes are deemed guilty until proven innocent, will be tested again next month when the Court of Arbitration for Sport hears an appeal by WADA and UCI, the cycling world governing body, against the decision of the Spanish cycling federation to clear Spanish cyclist Alberto Contador after he tested positive for clenbuterol on his way to victory in the 2010 Tour de France.
The amount of the steroid found in Contador’s sample was infinitesimal compared to the levels recorded by some of the teenage footballers in Mexico. Contador’s problem is that, like Priestley, he has no real proof to substantiate his claim that his failed drug test was caused by contaminated meat that originated in Spain, a country where there is no firm evidence of clenbuterol use in livestock rearing.
But, with athletes’ careers at stake, it simply not good enough for WADA to exonerate athletes who fail drug tests in one country and prosecute them in another.
As things stand at the moment, an athlete wanting to cheat could catch a plane to Guadalajara, pump himself full of clenbuterol to receive its full muscle-building benefits and then look forward to being cleared of all blame if the drug-tester comes knocking.
The situation is a mess and some proper research is urgently required to establish the extent of the clenbuterol problem in farming worldwide to avoid a cheats’ charter in some countries while potentially banning innocent athletes elsewhere.
Countries where there is a proven problem need more than a WADA health warning. They must be barred from hosting any major international sporting events until they can put their house in order. Anything less puts athletes at unacceptable risk.
The case of Priestley also highlights the need federations to ensure that if an athlete falls ill while on an official training camp or at a competition, then the cause of that illness is thoroughly investigated in the same way that a tweaked knee would automatically be scanned.
If they refuse, then the athlete should insist. Doing nothing could mean the end of their career.
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