Anti-doping in Czech.

Long before the Winter Olympics, sanctions had already fallen on Russian athletes due to revelations of systemic manipulation of doping samples. This is despite the Russian president's direct defence of the doping athletes. Russia's invasion of Ukraine then pushed most Russian athletes into the category of undesirables for international competition. But it is not only in Russia that doping, its use, control and sanctioning is a major issue. In our country, too, the industry is busy. The activities of the Anti-Doping Committee of the Czech Republic have been subjected to scrutiny, the results of which have yielded serious findings. On the basis of these findings, Czech athletes could suffer a similar fate to the Russian ones. However, there is clearly a difference. While the Russians have put in place a sophisticated apparatus that, for propaganda reasons, has ignored internationally respected rules for controlling the use of illegal substances in sport, the Czechs have demonstrated a rather casual approach. This is evidenced by a control plan that was more than two-thirds focused on competitions that have a fixed schedule and where athletes expect to see a doping commissioner. Some of the methodological provisions concerning the conduct of the control process also showed unwarranted benevolence. An example would be allowing one ten-pack of beer if the athlete does not have enough fluids. Dozens of misconduct and errors, including improper handling of samples, need to be corrected urgently. To sink to the level of Russia in this area would be sad. Neither the athletes nor the fans deserve it.

 

---