In the past few years I have given the anti-doping fight quite a bit of thought. Current events show that more than ever, we need new initiatives. Any successful approach will have to involve a carrot and a stick. I would argue that we need bigger carrots and bigger sticks. I have formulated five ideas, let me know your thoughts.
Idea 1: Better legal protection for athletes.
This may sound counter-intuitive, but here’s my reasoning. Right now the odds are really not in favor of the the athletes (Valverde notwithstanding). They don’t have access to a large group of experts (people working for anti-doping labs are not allowed to testify on behalf of an accused athlete), labs are rarely punished for irregularities, and this gives athletes the opportunity to create reasonable doubt in the minds of at least some fans (especially those in the athlete’s home country). These myths of wrongful convictions then undermine the doping fight in general.
In order to show fans that convictions are legitimate, they have to see that athletes were given a fair shake. But this fair shake is not just important for appearances, it is also crucial for point 2. Let me know what you think about the above suggestions in the comments section below.
gerard.cc 
June 16, 2011 at 15:06
[…] all for protecting riders’ right to work, etc. See my views on that here. So once you come back from a lengthy ban (my views on that here), you should be allowed to earn a […]
August 10, 2011 at 19:59
[…] Apparently defending biological passport cases in court is expensive, and in my eyes it points to a flaw in the set-up. When you come up with a new process, you have to make the riders’ rights the top priority. Only that way can you minimize costly challenges. The simple fact that riders don’t have access to all the data used to convict them risks turning the biological passport into sport’s version of military tribunals. I’ve written about this before. […]