Doha – Qatar, Nov 12: Drug Abuse, Speaking at ASPIRE4SPORT, the Middle East’s leading sport business conference, Dr Mario Zorzoli, Chief Doctor for the International Cycling Union [UCI], today claimed that the war against drug cheats in sport can be won.
Dr Zorzoli, addressing the conference on the subject ‘Genetically Modified Athletes: Myth or Reality?’ said:
“Despite what is happening, I’m optimistic going forward. We have new testing procedures that are far more advanced than the testing procedures we had even five years ago. There are things like the biological passport that monitor athletes over a long period of time.
“Essentially we are moving from the toxicology approach that existed in the seventies to now a more forensic science approach. As well as the biological passport, we are using intelligence from the police as proof of doping. So this clearly shows that there are improvements and these improvements will lead to good results in the future.
“The pharmaceutical companies will also allow the sharing of technical information which will benefit the anti-doping laboratories so they will have validated detection methods before the commercialization of these drugs.”
In addition to Dr Zorzoli, a number of high profile athletes also appeared on the first day of ASPIRE4SPORT including London 2012 Olympic Super Heavyweight Boxing Champion Anthony Joshua, who revealed that he is yet to decide on his boxing future.
Speaking about the possibility of him competing in the World Series of Boxing, Joshua said:
“I’ve still got some decisions to make about the WSB. There is a bright future and many championships I need to fight.”
During today’s ASPIRE4SPORT programme, the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee announced that Qatar will host the Asian qualifying rounds for the 2013 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. The announcement was made by a presenting team including Nasser Al Khater, Marketing and Communications Director for Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee and French football legend Christian Karembeu.
The qualifying rounds will be played in Doha between 22-26 January 2013 at Katara Beach. Teams will vie for three spots at the 2013 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, which will be held on the Pacific island of Tahiti.
Nasser Al Khater said:
“Our decision to partner with FIFA Beach Soccer to host the Asian World Cup qualifiers demonstrates our commitment to the growth and development of football in Qatar and the region.” —- By: Robert Fawdon
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.