THE SYSTEM IS FLAWED

Take the time to read this link and related links from the LA Times about the flaws in the current anti-doping system employed by WADA:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-sp-doping10dec10,0,3464145.story?page=1&coll=la-headlines-california

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-doping11dec11,0,2817972.story?coll=la-headlines-california

Here is a sterling excerpt from one of my favorite open-minded witch-hunters, Dick Pound:

"WADA Chairman Richard W. Pound, 64, a Montreal lawyer, argues that the program must be so stringent and uncompromising to be effective against doping, which he calls "the biggest threat to sports.""The less discretion there is in the finding of a doping offense, the better it is," he told The Times in an interview.Pound, a former competitive swimmer who finished just out of medal contention at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, dismissed the notion that a significant number of doping cases are accidental or inadvertent; WADA policy states that every athlete is responsible for everything he or she ingests or applies to the body. In the case of adulterated supplements, he said, "If you didn't know what was in there, it's your own damn fault." In the rare cases that an athlete can be proved truly faultless, he added, the system is flexible enough to temper its penalties."If you're captured by a squad of Nazi frogmen and injected with a steroid, you're going to be found positive," he told The Times. "But it wouldn't be a two-year suspension."

"Captured by a squad of Nazi frogmen and injected with a steroid, you're going to be found positive. But it wouldn't be a two-year suspension."

Nice. So what, only 1 year but only because they were Nazi frogmen? This from the guy running the whole show. The biggest problem that I see with this comment is that, according to statements he makes in this article and in others, is that he is not interested in listening to an athlete trying to prove that they are faultless, in his mind they are all guilty no matter what the circumstance. Plus, the system makes it cost prohibitive if not impossible to prove their innocence.

I have said this before about race officials and I am going to say it now about WADA and their team of "officials": wise application and enforcement of rules intended to protect the athletes and their sports is not a black and white issue. There is grey, and the good officials are the ones with the knowledge, experience and wisdom who are able to rule in that grey area.