It’s almost 2 years after the World Anti-doping Agency or WADA decided to increase the penalty for athletes caught using performance enhancing substances or illegal methods to improve performance. The standard 2-year ban was extended up to 4 years. The purpose of the longer penalty is to deter professional athletes to be involved in doping or any illegal means to become a better athlete.

The WADA director general David Howman expressed his concerns on this issue. He wants all sports organizations under WADA to implement the policy. This will help protect clean athletes from those who achieved better skills due to cheating. “They don’t want to be lining up against people who cheat. They get a two-year penalty and, quick as a flash, they’re back again,” Howman told the AP.

When to Use the 4-year Ban

The 4-year ban can be used against first time offenders with aggravating circumstances. Howman hinted that federations and national anti-doping bodies are wary of using the maximum penalty for fear of legal cases that may be filed against them by offending athletes. “This four years was something that people who were advocating stronger penalties really wanted us to include, and so it was included. But 18 months later, it’s hardly being used, if at all,” he said. “When it comes to the crunch, obviously people are not willing to be as tough as they sound.”

When the 4-year ban was approved in January 2009, officials agreed to use the policy on athletes who were found to be involved in a doping conspiracy, using or possessing different banned substances, using illegal substances on multiple occasions or using deceptive or obstructing conduct to avoid detection.

Anti-doping experts know that this could result to some legal arguments. It was already questioned before that the use of 4-year ban was too much. However, experts from WADA can now defend this policy. They said that there are already proofs that the benefits of performance enhancing substances like anabolic steroids can last more than 4 years. “It was that scientific evidence that made the legal people say, ‘Yes, there are good reasons for extending the ban from two years to four years in anabolic steroid cases,” said WADA vice president Arne Ljungqvist.

Ljungqvist also told the AP that once they have a good case, they will be implementing the 4-year ban. “No one has been doing it, so we are waiting for a suitable test case. So far people are still living with the idea that two years is the standard ban, which should not be the case in serious cases like EPO and steroids and the like. We will take action once we have a good case to pursue,” he said.

Cases of 4-year Bans

Although there are already a few cases where some sports leagues used the 4-year ban but WADA expect more. A Bulgarian soccer coach was sanctioned for giving his players pills containing steroids before competitions. The AP also reported that Austrian triathlete Hannes Hempel got the same 4-year sanction for providing drugs to former cyclist Bernhard Kohl. The International Weightlifting Federation also adapted the policy to prevent weightlifters to be involved in doping.

UCI President Pat McQuaid is also pushing for the 4-year ban in his sport. “I’m increasingly going for four years because two years is very quick,” said McQuaid. He said that athletes can return to the sports very quick after suspension and it’s unfair to clean athletes. The cycling federation will now be tested if they can really enforce this anti-doping policy. A month ago, the 3-time Tour de France champion Alberto Contador was caught using clenbuterol. Let’s see what happens after the investigation.

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