Anti-doping agency closing in on cheats

Whistle-blowers, secret meetings and even under-cover investigators could soon become part of sport's battle to catch drug cheats, World Anti-Doping Agency chief Dick Pound revealed today.

Pound told Standard Sport that WADA wanted to be much more pro-active in gaining intelligence about who is taking banned performance-enhancing drugs such as steroids or growth hormones, and about when and how they are doing it.

"We need to seek out better intelligence about who is doing what to who, rather than waiting for it to emerge," Pound said. "Whatever it takes. I have nothing against clandestine meetings in unmarked restaurants with the media, retired athletes or coaches to tell us what is going on out there. I want to make it clear that anyone can call me. We have to take every opportunity to expand our intelligence."

WADA has been given more power to investigate drug-taking after a groundbreaking world doping conference in Copenhagen finished yesterday with a new anti-doping code in place. The code, which has the backing of governments as well as Olympic sports, states that serious drug offences should be punished with two-year bans and gives WADA the chance to challenge sports who hand out soft penalties.

Football and cycling, which have been criticised in the past for not dealing with drug cheats in the same way as other sports, are now going to be on trial.

Sports minister Richard Caborn has proposed that sports who do not implement the code in Britain should lose millions of pounds in government funding.

The first case WADA may decide to investigate is how French international rugby prop Pieter de Villiers avoided a punishment on a technicality yesterday despite a positive test for cocaine in December. The player went unpunished because, in France, stimulants cannot be sought in tests 'out of competition', as was the case with De Villiers.