News

14th October 2004

EU must do more to fight drug use in sport

The European Commission has today laid out its strategy to combat the use of drugs in sport. Commissioner Reding outlined the allocation of €5 million to fund research into the use of drugs in sport and ways of fighting it.

The Commissioner expressed the need for zero tolerance on those caught using drugs and that there must be more action between Member States and sports federations.

John Bowis MEP, Conservative Spokesman on Health in the European Parliament, said:

"The recent Olympic Games in Athens were plagued with cases of athletes either dodging drugs tests or being caught using drugs. We must do more to root out these athletes with more and accurate testing. Doping is quite simply cheating. It is also extremely damaging to individual health and sets an appalling example to children who see athletes as their role models."

 Christopher Beazley, Conservative Spokesman on Culture and Education in the European Parliament, said:

"The development of illicit drugs has made it increasingly difficult to detect drug use in sport. With the temptation of vast prizes for success we must now look at improving technology used in the detection process, consider increasing the random testing of athletes and bring about more co-operation between sporting bodies."