Steve Magness, "the coach who blew the whistle on an elite Nike-sponsored athletics program but now feels like a pariah in the sport as a result," said that doping in athletics "could be slashed overnight if sponsors showed any will to eradicate it," according to Mitch Phillips of REUTERS.
Doping scandals "have torn athletics asunder over the last two years," but Magness said that there is an "easy way to make an immediate sea-change." He said, "I guarantee that if the sponsors said, 'Hey, we want to clean up the sport,' you could get rid of 70-80 percent of the problem right there. If sponsors said, 'We are never going to support anyone who tests positive, never supporting coaches who have or have had athletes who take drugs, never supporting agents who have supported drugged athletes.' ... They could snap their fingers and that would eliminate a huge part of the problem."
Magness said that Nike in particular "can make a big impact as the dominant sponsor of U.S. athletics." He "criticized its backing of 2004 Olympic 100 meters champion Justin Gatlin." Nike "declined to comment" (REUTERS, 8/12).
