IOC: Anti-Doping Agency To Be Ready By 2000 -- September 18, 1999

International Olympic Committee VP Dick Pound said that the International Anti-Doping Agency would be operational by the end of the year. He said the IOC remains committed to spending $25 million to set up the agency as promised at the worldwide sports drugs conference in February. Australian Olympic Committee boss John Coates said in a letter last week to IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch that the fight against doping at the 2000 Games would be seriously compromised if the international agency wasn't in place.