FIFA set to sign WADA code before World Cup
(AFP)
Updated: 2006-05-15 10:51 FIFA will amend its
anti-doping regulations to conform with those of the World Anti Doping Agency
before the start of the June 9 World Cup, according to WADA on Sunday.
Football's world ruling body has long resisted calls to fall into line with
WADA, a situation which prompted WADA to consult the Court of Arbitration for
Sport (CAS) last month.
CAS decreed that FIFA's code did not comply with WADA's. However, that
situation now looks about to change.
After a weekend of negotiations, WADA chief Dick Pound announced: "FIFA has
affirmed that it will make the necessary changes before the start of the World
Cup.
"Both WADA and FIFA have committed to accept and abide by the CAS opinion,
and FIFA has stated it will make the necessary changes in time for its World Cup
next month.
"FIFA's achieving Code-compliance will be an important and welcome step in
the global fight against doping in sport".
Last week WADA threatened FIFA with axing football from the Olympic Games if
it failed to comply with the code.
"The CAS opinion has confirmed that in at least eight portions of the
mandatory sections of the code, the FIFA rules were non compliant," said Pound
on Thursday.
"The world anti-doping code is a cornerstone of the fight against doping in
sport.
"I'm quite confident that FIFA, now that it has a chance to review and study
this advisory opinion we have from CAS, understands precisely what it has to
do."
WADA cannot kick football out of the Olympics but Pound said that with the
agency's role in advising both the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and
governments, FIFA would be treading a tightrope if it failed to adopt the code.
"It is up to them (IOC and governments) to employ the necessary sanctions,"
added Pound. "And that could go as far as excluding football from the
Olympics."
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