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New
claims about blood testing in athletics involving Britons have emerged in
Germany
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Athletics is at the centre of fresh claims
about doping after it was alleged world governing body the IAAF turned a blind
eye to suspicious blood tests involving 150 athletes including a leading
Briton.
AFP reports German TV broadcaster ARD reported
that a long-time member of the IAAF's medical commission, whose identity has
not been revealed, had a list of dozens of questionable blood values which were
not followed up.
The alleged cases involved blood samples taken
between 2006 and 2008 and were "highly suspicious" according to the
unnamed medical commission member, but it has been claimed there was no
follow-up involving target testing of the athletes involved by the IAAF's
doping department.
The IAAF has refuted the allegations, with the
chairman of its medical and commission Dr Juan Manuel Alonso saying on Twitter
that "blood samples taken before 2009 were thoroughly examined".
It is claimed by ARD that many of the samples
came from Russian athletes, but that three British athletes were also involved
along with others from Kenya, Germany, Spain and Morocco.
ARD has also alleged there is systematic doping
in Russian athletics and implicated the IAAF in covering up the problem.
The British trio are included on a list of
names which appears to have come from the IAAF and is headed
"Suspicious".
The IAAF issued a six-point statement to hit
back at the latest allegations.
The governing body said it was not possible to
conclude whether an athlete had doped "on the basis of one single blood
value" and stressed that a member of its medical and anti-doping
commission would not know whether follow-up tests had been conducted or not.
It also pointed out the IAAF only launched the
athlete biological passport in 2009, meaning before that date there was no
"harmonised regulatory framework allowing the use of reliable and
comparable values".
It said blood data collected before 2009 was
used for target purposes to "trigger" follow-up urine tests for EPO
detection and abnormal results were followed up "whenever possible
logistically".
Alonso added on his personal Twitter account
that "some athletes were caught" in this way.
The IAAF also said it had used blood values
prior to 2009 as "secondary evidence" to support an increased
sanction for an athlete who doped, but said they did not have "the same
level of reliability and strength as the post-2009 values which were collected
under strict and stringent conditions".
It also said it used the pre-2009 blood data to
conduct a prevalence study which was published in 2011 and allowed the IAAF to
identify the countries where there was a high risk of doping.
The IAAF said a video and English transcript of
the latest documentary would be sent directly to the independent IAAF ethics
commission for investigation.
The latest claims will add weight to Sebastian
Coe's campaign for the IAAF's anti-doping system to be completely independent
in terms of testing and sanctions.
Lord Coe, an IAAF vice-president who is running
for the presidency, has made the establishment of an independent doping body a
key part of his manifesto.
Coe, in Monaco for the International Olympic
Committee session, said: "This is the time to really push for a wholly
independent arm to our testing procedures.
"Clearly, there are resource implications.
But I know that in the UK in the 80s, that actually made a massive difference.
I think this is the moment."
Coe added on Twitter: "It's vital that the
IAAF, the ethics committee and WADA complete their work on recent allegations.
Only then can the appropriate steps be considered."
Dick Pound, the Canadian IOC member and former
president of the World Anti-Doping Association (WADA), said the allegations
highlighted the need for athletics to improve its anti-doping processes.
Pound said: "Athletics has a problem and
it will be interesting to see how they respond - and how quick they respond. This is harder
evidence than we normally have. I think the IAAF need to do something
meaningful because clearly what they are doing is not sufficient."
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