BCCI rejects 'whereabouts' testing

[Pigeon]

So, Phelps has swum in Barcelona. Are you going to tell me that Spain has never had a problem with terrorists? And as with the London bombings of 2005 we're seeing more home grown terrorists. Not every terrorist has to come from Pakistan.

What about the frequency? In India alone, there have been what? 9? 10? bombings in the last 2-3 years. There have been NO attacks in US or England since 2005 and 2001.

Phelps lives in the USA, the place where the worst terrorist attack in history has occured.

God forbid, countless more lives have been lost in India since 2001 as compared to what happened on 26/11.

Phelps has swum in many different countries around the world in the past 9 years (he was at Sydney in 2000 as a 15 year old). Lance Armstrong has raced in quite a few countries the last few years.

The question is "where all". Certainly Phelps did not have to tour the developing countries, and Armstrong never had to cycle across Pakistan or India.

And who says that the WADA has to make public the locations of the Indian cricketers? Just because WADA knows where Dhoni or Tendulkar is doesnt mean they're ringing up terrorist organisations and saying "hey guyz, Tendulkar is in Kolkata on business this weekend".

It is not the knowledge per se that is the problem. Once committed to the WADA, the players have the obligation to be in the exact place they reported 3 months back that they would be in. If not it is counted as one strike, and 3 strikes mean the player would be banned for 3 years from the sport. Considering how unpredictable the schedules of the Indian cricket team players are, partly owing to the International commitments, and partly owing to the security, it is almost impossible to toe the WADA line.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Pretty much in agreeance with Uppercut.

 

[vic_orthdox]

It is not the knowledge per se that is the problem. Once committed to the WADA, the players have the obligation to be in the exact place they reported 3 months back that they would be in. If not it is counted as one strike, and 3 strikes mean the player would be banned for 3 years from the sport. Considering how unpredictable the schedules of the Indian cricket team players are, partly owing to the International commitments, and partly owing to the security, it is almost impossible to toe the WADA line.

It can't be that stringent. I'm sure that, for example, a cyclist doesn't still go where his itinerary says he should, if he gets injured. There'd be mitigating circumstances where alteration of the schedule would have to be allowed.

 

[Pigeon]

It can't be that stringent. I'm sure that, for example, a cyclist doesn't still go where his itinerary says he should, if he gets injured. There'd be mitigating circumstances where alteration of the schedule would have to be allowed.

Maybe. I am not sure about cycling tbf. But even tennis greats like Nadal and Serina have said it infringes on their privacy and is stringent.

 

[honestbharani]

That did cross my mind.

Did the fact that security at a personal visit or stay will be minimal compared to an international cricket match also cross your mind?

 

[vic_orthdox]

Maybe. I am not sure about cycling tbf. But even tennis greats like Nadal and Serina have said it infringes on their privacy and is stringent.

Was just using cycling as an example.

Not that I don't agree with the opinions of Nadal and Williams, I said as much when agreeing with Uppercut. But these people surely would not be locked into a schedule, if there was a good reason (i.e. injury, personal issues), especially if they were not competing.

 

[TT Boy]

Did the fact that security at a personal visit or stay will be minimal compared to an international cricket match also cross your mind?

No.

 

[R_D]

So does that mean the indians aren't drug tested but the rest are,you are so cool bcci,the icc will never bow to you

next time maybe read the article or find out facts before saying anything.

 

[99*]

How hard is it to just test players the day/a few hours before a match?

You're going to catch them if they are cheating, and you aren't invading their privacy.

 

[Shri]

Cricketers are sportsmen, not a bunch of criminals who are out on bail who have to report their whereabouts to some officials regularly. ICC are better off forming their own exclusive anti-doping department (I dunno whether one exists already) instead off sticking to bull**** organizations like the WADA.

 

[silentstriker]

How hard is it to just test players the day/a few hours before a match?

You're going to catch them if they are cheating, and you aren't invading their privacy.

WADA is full of bunch of useless overzealous bureaucrats who only care about preserving their jobs and to harass athletes. They are not protecting anyone from anything. If you want steroids gone, test before, during and after the event. What's the use in invading peoples privacy all the time by testing 7 months before an event? They just like having big name stars at their beck and call - makes them feel important.

 

[Craig]

It can't be that stringent. I'm sure that, for example, a cyclist doesn't still go where his itinerary says he should, if he gets injured. There'd be mitigating circumstances where alteration of the schedule would have to be allowed.

Or goes to a race he wasn't meant to do because a team-mate is out, or he dropped out of a race for whatever reason. They have tried to improve this by allowing riders to send an SMS or have a log-in database where a rider will log-in and edit his details accordingly.

If you miss a test then you get a warning, 2nd missed test is usually a two week suspension, and a 3rd one is considered a two year ban. There was a case with the 2007 TdF where it's leader Michael Rasmussen was kicked off (and he was going to win the race) by his Dutch team Rabobank where he missed a few out of competition tests by lying on his whereabouts form by stating he was in Mexico 9he was actually in Italy) in June that year.

 

[brockley]

So does that mean indian players won't be drug tested anymore.Cool

 

[Pigeon]

So does that mean indian players won't be drug tested anymore.Cool

No mate, BCCI have asked for a seperate doping code for them.

I can understand the concerns of the Indian players. Unless WADA can guarantee 100% security of the information passed onto them, no cricketer should sign onto that. It is just ridiculous to expect players to constantly update the WADA about their whereabouts even in the offseason. It is totally an infringement on the privacy of each individual which is granted by the constitution.

An alternative could be informing the player about the test in advance during off seasons, or conducting tests during playing season.

I really do not see how this "whereabouts" law can significantly help in finding out offenders which otherwise could not have been found out. The benefit that this rul brings to the table has to be examined.

 

[Shri]

So does that mean indian players won't be drug tested anymore.Cool

No, if one country rejects it, other countries aren't allowed to participate in it either.

 

[four_or_six]

Yes, that is the only fair solution. It looks as though the whole thing will fall down now. Oh well, that's one cast-iron way of making sure cricket doesn't end up in the Olympics or the Asian Games!

 

[slippyslip]

How hard is it to just test players the day/a few hours before a match?

You're going to catch them if they are cheating, and you aren't invading their privacy.

No you're not. HGH and steroids are taken well before competition and then masked.

Testing during events detects those who have stuffed up their drug intake (ie Ben Johnson in 1988) or those using stimulants.

 

[slippyslip]

While I can understand the flaws in the whereabouts rule I think most people are missing the bigger issue. That issue is that sporting governming bodies have always failed to adequately and fairly police drug policies in their own sport. Its a conflict of interest.

Why do you think the IOC setup the WADA in the first place? IAAF, FINA, IWF etc have all have/had major drug issues and failures.

And plenty of non olympic sports have had major issues with drugs. Cricket has had few problems with performance enhancing drugs but as the ability to earn more money in cricket grows so does the likelihood of performance enhancing drugs. With so much cricket being played, and so many injuries, the temptation to take some steroids to recover quicker will surely grow.

And I'm sure I'm not the only one who has no belief in the ICC's ability to impartially and fairly police drug testing. Remember that the IOC and IAAF turned a blind eye to drugs in athletics for years. Major League Baseball turned a blind eye to drug taking while guys like McGwire, Sosa, Bonds and Rodriguez were smashing home runs all over the place.

Lets imagine drug taking starts to become a problem in twenty20 cricket in 20 years or so. By this time Twenty20 will be the major cash cow for cricket. Do you think the ICC will honestly crack down on drugs and ban players and risk damaging the image of the game and losing millions of dollars in revenue? Unlikely.

If the WADA's way is not the answer then the ICC have to find another independent body to police drugs in cricket.

 

[GIMH]

WADA is full of bunch of useless overzealous bureaucrats who only care about preserving their jobs and to harass athletes. They are not protecting anyone from anything. If you want steroids gone, test before, during and after the event. What's the use in invading peoples privacy all the time by testing 7 months before an event? They just like having big name stars at their beck and call - makes them feel important.

Testing 7 months before an event makes perfect sense as it means players can't cheat the system by taking drugs out of competition that then can't be detected when they come to compete...

Might be a bit of a moot point in cricket though, how often do international cricketers go seven months without competing? England's certainly never do.

 

[Sanz]

Testing 7 months before an event makes perfect sense as it means players can't cheat the system by taking drugs out of competition that then can't be detected when they come to compete...

Might be a bit of a moot point in cricket though, how often do international cricketers go seven months without competing? England's certainly never do.

Thinking about the same thing, still why would they want to know players whereabouts for whole 3 months is just beyond me and I can't believe so many players all over the world have agreed to such nonsense.