IOC Admits Anti-Doping Setbacks
LAUSANNE, Switzerland – The International Olympic Committee virtually conceded that it has failed in its campaign to wipe out drug use in sports. The IOC executive board acknowledged that an agreement, signed with great fanfare in 1994 to harmonize anti-doping rules in all Olympic sports, had fallen short of its goals. ”There is not yet a satisfactory definition of doping,” IOC director general Francois Carrard said in what was a startling admission of the disarray in the fight against performance-enhancing drugs. Carrard said the IOC executive board will propose that all Olympic sports federations adopt a single medical code that will clarify and simplify doping matters. If all 28 summer and seven winter federations agree to the document, it should be adopted by the end of 1998 and put into place in time for the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney. ” The message is: simplify, unify and become more effective,” Carrard said. ”The 1994 document has been very important but not sufficient and we feel we should still do more.”