Anti-doping law unfunded, unenforceable: agency

The stricter anti-doping code which takes effect world wide on January 1st, may not be efficient in the Netherlands. From 2015 international anti-doping agency WADA is setting stricter requirements for anti-doping agencies, whose work will also be more strictly checked. One of the agreements is that athletes are tested for certain substances at a predetermined percentage of checks. According to director Herman Ram, the Doping Authority does not have the required 10 percent additional check budget that is needed to meet WADA's requirements. According to him, less doping checks or cheaper checks, where fewer substances are tested for, is therefore the only way out. He acknowledges that athletes may so be encouraged to use illegal substances because they run less risk of testing positive. Dutch legislation on doping is in the making, Ram said at a press conference on Wednesday. But unlike in Germany, where ope users are criminally prosecuted, such a law will not lead to imprisonment in the Netherlands. "That does not fit in our system and also not in our mentality." A doping law could lead to better cooperation between the Doping Authority and the investigating authorities. Ram thinks that the fight against doping could benefit from, for instance, customs letting him know what illegal drugs are found at the border.