MUMBAI: Craig Reedie, former WADA president and an IOC member, said on Thursday that the worldwide lockdown may have given a window of opportunity to dope cheats.
During an online interaction with AIPS e-College, he said: "The testing programmes for all athletes have not come to a complete stop, but are in a much more limited level of activity. I have to be cynical and say that some people will cheat. The challenge is what needs to be done when this finishes, and when doping officials can get access to athletes."
Reedie talked about the creation of the world anti-doping body, and different aspects of fight against the use of illegal substances in sports."I think anybody who decides to cheat is taking the risk for a number of reasons," said Reedie, who was also instrumental in turning badminton into an Olympic sport.
"First of all, there is now a much greater degree of intelligence within WADA and other anti-doping organisations about where cheats come from, and other aspects. We are smarter than before, better in laboratory examinations. We have a comprehensive list of prohibited substances."
Having been closely linked with WADA ever since its establishment in 1999 following a doping scandal at Tour de France in the previous year, Reedie said that though the body was spending a lot more on enhancing its systems, there is still a lot of work to be done.
"We spend reasonable amounts of money — not as much as we should — on anti-doping research. The current system of analysing urine is time-consuming, complicated and expensive. We’ve made major improvements by introducing athlete biological passport (ABP). The blood-test system is better. In fact, it was hugely influential in stopping organised cheating in Russia."
The Englishman felt that the "ultimate solution" for curtailing doping in sports is by educating athletes.