World Anti-Doping Agency Declares London Olympics Host British Olympic Association Non-Compliant

LONDON, England, November 21. AFTER an escalation of rhetoric following the dumping of IOC Rule 45, the World Anti-Doping Agency has declared that the British Olympic Association is non-compliant according to multiple media outlets in the United Kingdom.

For some background, IOC Rule 45 included what was called the "Osaka Rule," automatically banning any athlete who had been suspended more than six months for an anti-doping violation from the Olympics following the end of the suspension. CAS ruled that the application of Rule 45 was invalid and unenforceable.

CAS ruled that Rule 45 violated the World Anti-Doping Code and the IOC own Statute stating that an additional sanction cannot be levied against an athlete that would change the effect of periods of ineligibility provisions of the WADC by adding further ineligibility after a sanction has already been served. CAS did, however, foreshadow that the spirit of the ruling could be included in the Code going forward if done as an amendment, so that the ban would not be legislatively seen as a separate sanction.

Once the Court for Arbitration of Sport ruled against IOC Rule 45, BOA's Colin Moynihan lambasted the ruling, stating: "Never have the sanctions against the hard-line cheats been so weak since the end of the Cold War."

"It is understandable that many in sport have concluded that (WADA) has underachieved in the 10 years it has been operational," Moynihan said after the ruling. "Not least because …. the system put in place by WADA has failed to catch the major drug cheats of our time. Marion Jones and countless others have flourished during the WADA era — isn't that enough to prompt an independent audit of the organization tasked with policing sport? The time for a fundamental review of WADA, and what it has actually achieved, is long overdue. We now have a situation where drug cheats will be able to compete in London 2012. … Anti-doping policy is entering a dark age."

The BOA has remained steadfast in applying its own antidoping bylaw that states that British doping violators are banned from the Olympics for life.

Technically, WADA's ruling stating that the BOA is non-compliant states that Britain is unable to compete at its own Olympic Games, according to the Olympic Charter.

Former WADA President Dick Pound spoke about Moynihan's rant recently as well, stating that Moynihan's comments were "both very unfortunate and, frankly, quite offensive. I think he should at least have verified the factual basis on which he was making allegations against WADA."

The next step in the process will include an appeal to CAS by Britain.

Full text of Inside the Games article.

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