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Cheats are winning the battle against anti-doping authorities in elite sport, according to a top official.<\/b><\/p>\n
David Howman, who chairs the Athletics Integrity Unit and served as director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) for 13 years, says the anti-doping system has “stalled”, allowing those who take banned substances to prosper.<\/p>\n
“Let’s be honest and pragmatic \u2013 the system has stalled,” Howman said.<\/p>\n
“Intentional dopers at elite level are evading detection. We are not effective enough nowadays in catching cheats.<\/p>\n
“Our ineffectiveness in dealing with those who are beating the rules is hurting the anti-doping movement’s credibility.”<\/p>\n
Former world 100m silver medallist Marvin Bracy-Williams was banned for more than three and half years last month<\/a> after admitting doping offences, while fellow American Erriyon Knighton was banned for four years in September after testing positive for steroids.<\/a><\/p>\n Women’s marathon world record holder Ruth Chepngetich was banned for three years in October after her sample showed a banned diuretic commonly used as a masking agent.<\/a><\/p>\n The unity of world anti-doping effort has been compromised in recent years.<\/p>\n Wada and the US anti-doping agency have clashed over the handling of a doping scandal<\/a> involving 23 Chinese swimmers, funding<\/a> and the staging of next year’s Enhanced Games,<\/a> an event which encourages the use of banned substances, in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n The anti-doping authorities in Kenya, whose athletes have been involved in a spate of positive tests, are on a Wada watchlist, while Russia, whose officials were found to be involved in the systematic cheating and swapping of samples at the 2014 Winter Olympics at Sochi,, external<\/span><\/a> are still judged as “non-compliant” by Wada.<\/p>\n Howman suggested better sharing of information among anti-doping bodies and a “bounty-hunting” style incentivisation to encourage them to proactively chase cheats.<\/p>\n “We must all do better to support our clean athletes by catching the dirty ones, especially those at the pinnacle of sport,” he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n