Deputy drug czar sees day when U.S. pro leagues will accept world’s standards
DENVER: The United States' No. 2 official responsible for fighting drugs sees the indictment of Major League Baseball home run king Barry Bonds as a success, the upcoming report on steroids in MLB as a positive and envisions a day when all pro American pro leagues will adopt the World Anti-Doping Agency's rules.
“They don't want to sign on right now, because it's tough and it's specific. And there are consequences and it can be monitored, and people will be caught and cheaters will be punished,” said Scott Burns, the deputy director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). “But will they sign on eventually? Just about everyone in the world has.”
The MLB report, being compiled by former U.S. Senate leader George Mitchell and expected to be released by the end of the year, likely will add more names to the list of MLB players linked to performance-enhancing drugs.
Burns recognizes some will view it “as a negative or another black eye” when the report is released.
“But I think it's something positive we can build on with the leagues.”
Burns spent last week in Madrid, Spain, at the world doping conference and said he left believing that the United States leads the world in the fight against drugs in sports. But world leaders also look at American pro sports — especially the Bonds case and the perception of a growing steroids problem in MLB — as sending a different signal about this country's willingness to deal with the issue, Burns said.
WADA chairman Dick Pound, whose term expires at the end of the year, has been especially critical of MLB's efforts, saying it was disappointing that the league and its players' union have “made such a concerted and expensive effort to keep the names of its players who have been involved in this confidential.”
Burns criticized Pound for posturing on the MLB issue, but also sounded some criticism of his own.
“They've got a long way to go,” he said of all American pro leagues.
Although the leagues have sat down with officials to discuss the U.S. government's role as an investigator in fighting doping in sports, none of have come close to accepting the WADA code.
The National Football League's doping policy bans players for four games after a first positive test for steroids and goes after portions of players' salaries and signing bonuses. At the beginning of 2007, the league announced a more extensive testing policy and added the blood-boosting substance EPO to its list of banned substances. Still, it falls short of WADA's international standards, which call for a two-year suspension for a first-time offender and a lifetime ban for a second offense.
The NFL also has not signed on to submitting players to the developing test for human growth hormone, in part because it does not want players to have to take blood tests.
“We work closely with WADA and USADA in several ways, but we do not expect the full WADA code to be adopted by the NFL,” spokesman Greg Aiello said. “Our current policy allows for a tailored approach that addresses the specific issues relating to professional football. For example, we have been able to add new substances to our prohibited list more quickly than would be the case under WADA, and we can adjudicate appeals in a more expeditious way.”
MLB, meanwhile, has moved reluctantly toward drug testing, starting with survey testing in 2003 and testing with penalties the following year.
MLB management and the players' union repeatedly have said their drug testing is a product of collective bargaining under U.S. labor laws.
The NBA conducts random tests four times a season. Players are subject to a 10-game suspension for a first offense, a 25-game ban for a second offense, a one-year suspension for a third offense and banishment from the league if they're caught a fourth time. NBA officials declined comment for this story.
“Whether it's pro sports or any level of sports, we're interested in them having effective policies,” Travis Tygart, the CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said. “We believe the checklist of independence and transparency found in the WADA code provides for the most effective programs.”
Tygart said USADA does not actively encourage pro sports to implement WADA rules, but USADA has helped federal investigators with probes that resulted in Operation Raw Deal, a bust that recovered 11.4 million doses of steroids from 56 labs.
Lead investigator Jack Robertson recently said athletes at every level have been identified in the case, and he would like to share their names with USADA and leaders in pro and college sports.