The World Anti-Doping Agency "believes a blanket ban on countries whose athletes regularly dope could prove an effective deterrent in sport's war on drugs."
But WADA President Craig Reedie said that "he needs to await a report from his independent commission into the issue of doping in athletics before fully backing any such approach." When asked by CNN if he believes the point "has been reached whereby banning a country is necessary to enforce change," Reedie replied, "I suspect so" (CNN, 8/18). ... F1 driver Lewis Hamilton "reckons changes to start procedures, to be introduced at the Belgian GP, that place greater emphasis on drivers could have a big effect on the outcome of races."
This weekend’s race at Spa "will be the first at which the changes, announced by the FIA last month, will be imposed." The intention "is to make drivers 'solely responsible' for how they get off the line -- that they can no longer adjust the car’s clutch bite point, in other words, or receive information that helps the getaway" (Sydney DAILY TELEGRAPH, 8/19).
