Let us clean up sport and wipe dirty world records, says UK Athletics
Thursday 14 January 2016 14:39, UK
UK Athletics wants new world records and lifetime bans for doping as it launches a major campaign to clean up the sport.
The country's governing body has published 'A Manifesto for Clean Athletics' in the wake of a scandal which has seen Russia suspended from the international stage and Kenya, one of the most high-profile countries in distance running, blighted by doping-related allegations.
UK Athletics (UKA) also announced it would reveal the recommendations of its review into the Oregon Project run by Mo Farah's coach Alberto Salazar, despite the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) wanting a delay in the publishing of their findings until their own investigations were concluded.
As part of the manifesto launched on Monday, they have made 14 proposals including seeking "to enforce a lifetime ban against representing Great Britain for any athlete guilty of a serious anti-doping violation".
They also intend to double the length of bans worldwide for serious offences from four years to eight years.
UKA chairman Ed Warner stated it was time for "radical reform" with one of their main proposals being the introduction of a new set of world records being established by the IAAF based on performances in the new 'Clean Athletics' era.
They also want the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to set up a public global register of all drugs tests so that the times and places of tests undertaken by all athletes are open to scrutiny and sponsors not supporting athletes guilty of serious doping offences.
UKA is looking for all lottery-funded athletes in Britain to agree to have their tests made available on a public register maintained by UK Anti-Doping.
In addition, they believe WADA should tighten up the process around the granting of therapeutic use exemptions to athletes and that all athletes competing in world championships should have a valid blood/biological passport.
Warner said: "The integrity of athletics was challenged as never before in 2015. Clean athletes and sports fans the world over have been let down. Trust in the sport is at its lowest point for decades.
"UKA believes the time has come for radical reform if we are to help restore trust in the sport. Athletics needs to act very differently if we are to move on from the crisis facing the sport.
"We are publishing a 'Manifesto for Clean Athletics'. We cannot will the ends - a clean sport that people can trust - if we are not prepared to be bold and put in place the means to get there.
"Greater transparency, tougher sanctions, longer bans -and even resetting the clock on world records for a new era - we should be open to do whatever it takes to restore credibility in the sport."
Warner also said UKA would reveal their recommendations having looked into the conduct of the Oregon Project run by Salazar - coach of Olympic and world champion middle distance runner Farah.
The investigation was commissioned following allegations the coach had violated anti-doping rules.
This may not go down too well with the USADA, who had requested UKA not to publish its findings while their own probe into Salazar was ongoing.
Warner added: "We are also publishing the recommendations from our review into Oregon last summer.
"We had said we would wait until the USADA Report before publishing but the need for transparency overrides our previously stated position."
Dick Pound, chairman of WADA's independent commission, is to announce the second part of the findings of his investigation into the IAAF and Russia on Thursday at a news conference in Munich.
