Irish boxer cleared after positive test
Though the rules demanded his immediate suspension as soon as the test results were known, the fighter has now been cleared after appearing before a full hearing of the `The Anti-Doping Inquiry Committee' set up by the Irish Association.
Those same rules ordained that the entire investigation was conducted in the strictest secrecy and this matter has only come to light in the annual report of the Anti-Doping Officer, John Fogarty, a member of An Garda Siochána, to Central Council.
Yet the affair has not concluded with the Inquiry Committee's verdict as the Sports Council, the driving force behind the anti-doping system in this country, is currently considering a full report of this matter and examining IABA procedures in the case.
Sports Council Chairman John Treacy declined to make any comment on an issue which was still under review, though he indicated that the Council would, as a matter of course, be interested in examining all the facts of an episode of this nature.
As the boxer involved tested positive for the anabolic steroid stanozol, the substance which sparked the greatest scandal in the history of sport when it was found in the sample of Olympic gold medalist Ben Johnson in Seoul, the Sport's Council's concern would appear well founded.
At first glance, it is difficult to understand how the Inquiry could have cleared a boxer after the metabolite 3'-Hydroxystanozol turned up in his urine sample.
YET the high-powered committee of IABA solicitor Colm McGeehan, Medical Officer Dr Sean Donnelly and association secretary Sean Crowley reported that ``having reviewed all the evidence'', they had ``a reasonable doubt in their minds''.
Their decision went on: ``The finding of the Committee therefore is that the charge of knowingly and willingly consuming an illegal substance be dismissed''.
Yet how does anyone unknowingly consume an anabolic steroid?
The answer, in this case, appears to be quite simple. The fighter involved, who was sharing accommodation during the National Championships, told the Inquiry that, when thirsty, he went to the fridge and drank from a bottle prepared by his flatmate.
This story was supported by the flatmate, who is involved in a non-Olympic sport and has no connection with boxing.
The flatmate admitted that the steroid, which in this instance goes under the trade name Winstrol, had been mixed into the drink for his own consumption and that the fighter had been unaware of its presence.
The Committee, who applied strict legal procedures at their hearing, only stopping short of taking evidence under oath, effectively were left with little choice but to acquit once there was the slightest doubt about the guilt of the accused.
And therein lies a crux for any sports association dealing with positive dope test results under the Sports Council's new national testing initiative.
``In the light of recent cases involving athletes in England and elsewhere, we have to be one hundred per cent certain of any decision we take or face potentially devastating consequences in a court of law,'' explains IABA President Breandan O Conaire.
While expressing his support for the Sports Council's get-tough policy on drug abuse in sport, he went on: ``It would be of considerable assistance to us in pursuit of that policy if the Council would indemnify us against any legal proceedings but they are unwilling to do so.
``As a result, small amateur associations like the IABA find themselves in a difficult situation.''
SPORTS Council chief Treacy insisted that while it was within their ambit to institute an effective anti-doping policy and structure, they had no part to play in the disciplining of individual sports people.
``That is the responsibility of the national governing bodies, who must deal with individual cases under the rules of their sport,'' he insisted, adding that it was not in the remit of the Sports Council to indemnify those bodies for decisions that they make under those rules.
The problem for boxing is that they cannot afford to place their public funding at risk by appearing to take a lenient line on positive drug tests yet neither can they afford being taken to the Four Courts by an aggrieved athlete demanding the highest standards of justice, evidence and proof.
As for their hush-hush anti-doping procedure, which, for example, contrasts markedly with swimming's policy of publicly naming anyone who tests positive, O Conaire went on: ``This too has been instituted on legal advice. We are bound by the principle that every individual must be considered innocent until proven guilty.''
Yet, while they argue that an individual should be protected from public odium until their guilt has been proved, the IABA still automatically suspends any boxer from competition pending a verdict on his case.
Dr Donnelly, who is on the medical commission of both the European and World Amateur Boxing Associations, revealed that figures recently released by the world body placed boxers fourth in the list of sports people who present positive results at out of competition testing.
BOXING'S figure was a positive return of 2.84 per cent, with 13 per cent of those, by far the most, being provided by Italian fighters.
The substances abused by boxers are:
a) steroids to improve a fighter's capacity for training and to increase his lean muscle mass, which obviously would hardly be applicable to anyone at the lower reaches of the weight scale.
b) Stimulants, like ephedrine, which are discovered in the samples of those either very stupid or foolhardy, considering widespread in-competition testing and extensive literature warning athletes of prohibited substances.
c) Diuretics, which are occasionally taken at enormous risk to the boxer's health in an effort to beat the scales.
Ironically, while drug controls have been a feature at the Ulster Championships for some time, this year's National Senior Championships, staged over three weekends in January, were the first to be visited by inspector Al Guy under the Irish Sport's Council's newly-instituted national testing scheme.
- By KARL McGINTY
