ANOMALIES HOLD UP SPORTS DRUG TESTING PROGRAMME

SERIOUS concerns about key aspects of the sports drug-testing programme to
be introduced this year remain to be resolved, it emerged yesterday.

It is eventually planned to take around 600 tests from amateur and
professional sports people annually but the introduction of the programme
is now likely to be delayed.

A spokesperson for Sports Minister Jim McDaid said yesterday it could not
be introduced until the Sports Council was established on a statutory basis
and the bill allowing for this has yet to go through its second stage in
the Dail.

However, Pat Daly, coaching and games development manager of the GAA,
revealed it was not yet clear if it would be left to each sporting body to
decide on the severity of the penalty should one of its members be found
guilty.

He warned this could create anomalies, with athletes convicted of the same
offence getting different penalties. ``It must be fair and consistent,'' he
said.

Difficulties may also arise for organisations which cover both the Republic
and the North because of differences in drug testing programmes and
agreement must also be reached on how the various banned substances will be
categorised.

Mr Daly said the GAA was also concerned about potential loopholes which
would allow somebody banned from one sport to participate in another.

The Department of Sport said the programme would be phased in and it was
planned to first target the 178 sports people in receipt of government
funding as well as bodies with teams participating at national and
international level.

Invitations to tender for the provision of laboratory testing facilities
are being sent abroad and this process is expected to be completed shortly.

``We appreciate it is an evolving situation and there are different issues
to be looked at. We would like to see the testing introduced sooner rather
than later to stand over the integrity of our members,'' said Mr Daly.

Organisations which fail to participate in the testing programme will not
be given any State funding.

Each is obliged to change its constitution to allow testing to take place
but none has registered with the department yet.

The ministerial spokesperson said the Sports Council was setting out
guidelines on the programme for the various organisations.