UK Anti-Doping Chair David Kenworthy has admitted that UKAD made a "ghastly mistake" in its handling of a probe into the role of a doctor accused of supplying banned drugs to athletes, according to Shravanth Vijayakumar of REUTERS. The Sunday Times reported in April that Dr. Mark Bonar "prescribed banned drugs to 150 sports figures including several Premier League footballers." Kenworthy's admission "follows the publication of an independent report commissioned by the government following the allegations." The report was critical of UKAD, saying it was "difficult to understand" why the anti-doping body did not pass on information given by amateur cyclist Dan Stevens to the General Medical Council, the regulatory body responsible for Bonar. Kenworthy said, "Frankly, I still do not know why we didn't -- we certainly talked about it. It was a ghastly mistake and it should never have happened. Nobody is disputing that" (REUTERS, 7/12).
UKAD OFFICIAL SUSPENDED: In London, Martyn Ziegler reported a senior UKAD figure is understood to have been "suspended after a report criticised its handling of a case involving a Harley Street doctor alleged to have supplied performance-enhancing drugs to professional sportspeople." Sources have said that UKAD Legal Dir Graham Arthur was "suspended after a review" by a former senior policeman found that it failed to inform the General Medical Council of the allegations against Bonar, "despite being asked to do so seven times" (LONDON TIMES, 7/12).
