WORLD DRUG CODE MAY COVER U.S. PROS

TORONTO - U.S. pro leagues could be covered by a proposed global
anti-doping code for international sports, the head of the World
Anti-Doping Agency said Friday.

Dick Pound, who also is a top International Olympic Committee official,
said governments around the world are being asked to accept the code.

The International Intergovernmental Consultative Group on Anti-Doping in
Sport will meet in Moscow from Dec. 8-10 to consider a memorandum of
understanding that would serve as an interim treaty on adopting the code.

Ideally, the memorandum would commit governments to recognize the agency,
guarantee contributions for its budget, accept the global anti-doping code
and pledge to make the code part of national law, Pound said.

Once countries include the anti-doping code in their laws, it would be
"something that is legally binding," meaning that professional soccer
leagues in Europe and major league baseball, the NFL, NBA and NHL would
come under the regulation.

Scheduled to be completed at an international anti-doping conference in
March in Copenhagen, Denmark, the code would be the first set of universal
doping rules for international sports.

It would establish a single list of banned substances, mandate rigorous
out-of-competition testing, and set standard penalties and suspensions for
drug cheats, including two-year bans for serious offenses.

Pound's agency meets Sunday and Monday in Montreal to consider responses to
a second draft. The deadline for responses is Dec. 10, with a final version
to be completed in time for the Copenhagen conference.

Major issues still under discussion include what constitutes a doping
offense and whether a two-year ban for a first serious offense would be
mandatory, Pound said.

He expects a doping offense to be based on "strict liability" - the
presence of a banned substance in the body. Further discussion also was
expected on whether an automatic two-year ban for a first serious offense
could be reduced in "exceptional circumstances," Pound said.

Pound's goal is to have the code in place for the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
Countries that refuse to adopt it would be unable to host the Olympics.

Pound said Friday that John Walters, director of the U.S. Office of
National Drug Control Policy, has his staff working on the proposed code
and memorandum of understanding.

For years, the IOC has held out the veiled threat that sports could be
dropped from the Olympics if they fail to live up to anti-doping rules. No
action has been taken.

IOC president Jacques Rogge recently said he would act against sports or
national Olympic committees if, after having their views incorporated in
the code, they fail to comply.