World Anti-Doping Agency President John Fahey "has pledged to 'catch the cheats behind the cheats' by cracking down on doping violations by coaches, agents and physiotherapists," according to Matt Majendie of the London INDEPENDENT. As part of the new code by WADA, Fahey insists that athletes "will no longer be solely responsible for failed dope tests but that the entourage behind sportsmen and women would be held accountable too." Those people "had previously been untouchable" by WADA. The wider-reaching battle "has become all the more relevant following the recent failed tests of Tyson Gay and five Jamaican athletes, including the former fastest man on the planet, Asafa Powell." Powell blamed a personal trainer after testing positive for the banned stimulant oxilofrine, while Gay said, “I basically put my trust in someone and was let down” after testing positive for a still unnamed substance (INDEPENDENT, 7/24). REUTERS' Mark Lamport-Stokes reported two other important components in WADA's new code are the requirement of "full menu testing" and a proposal for bans to be doubled to four years for the more serious doping offenses.
Fahey said, "Some anti-doping organizations are undertaking testing and not ticking the square for testing, say, steroids. That will be eliminated in the code. This is part of ensuring we have the best machinery to beat the cheats. The real cheats are going to get four-year bans, the ones with steroids and human growth hormone in their system, and that's a big jump from the current two years" (REUTERS, 7/24).
