The Drugs Conundrum

The WADA-BCCI face off puts in the limelight once again the issue of drugs in sports and questions on how it must be handled. To begin with WADA has had a confused history. Its goals ranging from the fight against drugs to ensuring fair competition. It has not helped that drug testing results have been inconsistent and rulings have been inconsistent not to mention that for the latest drugs there are not tests. Measurements between samples A and B have varied and athletes have escaped detection with designer drugs and recently Gasquet was let off the hook after testing positive for cocaine because he claimed that he had kissed someone who had done cocaine. Which brings us to the problem of recreational drugs. Is WADA in it for the fairness of competition or as a drug Czar. Considering how intrusive it wishes to be it stands to reason that recreational drugs should not be tested for. There is the argument that in many routine jobs drug testing is routine. But it is never as intrusive. Also many of the legal drugs that can be obtained above the counter and are used routinely by many people set alarm bells ringing at WADA because of the unfairness of competition. On the other hand all experts agree that only the accidental or naive users will get caught with outright off the charts numbers in pre-scheduled tests. So to even try to catch the real culprits WADA has to resort to very intrusive procedures. Even then it has been made to look silly where athletes used banned substances for decades before getting caught. There are bound to be many that never got caught.

The privacy is an issue. Other athletes have complained about it. This also shows the the power of the BCCI. It is not the governing body but the BCCI that has decided what will be done. In this case it does have some valid reasons for objection, however, it is also clear that it will do as it pleases as it has done in other cases and the ICC has no power to oppose it. In this sense the ICC has not been able to protect the rights of the other smaller boards against the might of the BCCI.

The Brash and the Frustrated

You did not have to watch the match or the series. All you had to do was look at the faces to know what had happened. Nasir Jamshaid wore the expression of a man who did not believe he should be out there. Aamer wore a layer of frustration on his face thicker than the sun screen he uses. Younis was irritated as was Naved. The only Pakistani who seemed to be having some fun in the stadium was Rameez who has been getting some swing and bounce from someone in the crowd and has dealt with it more deftly than the players have handled it from the Sri Lankan bowlers. By contrast, and surprisingly, Muralitharan was giving Afridi and co send offs and questioning overthrows. Sangakara too brashly told off Razzaq what was he doing running for overthrows when the ball had hit his bloody foot. Sportsmanship is all good and fair and it was fine to give back the run but Razzaq was almost sheepish.