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White House official criticizes professional leagues for doping policies
White House deputy "drug czar" Scott Burns blasted U.S. sports leagues Tuesday for failing to adopt World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) standards and indicated their leaders were enablers for dope cheats.
Burns, the U.S. government representative to last week's Madrid WADA meeting, picked apart the National Basketball Association, National Football League, National Hockey League and Major League Baseball excuses for ignoring WADA.
"They don't want to sign on because it's tough and it's specific and there are consequences and it will be monitored and cheaters will be caught and exposed," Burns told reporters in a teleconference call.
WADA adopted a new anti-doping code last week that football world governing body FIFA ratified, Burns noted, dismissing U.S. league notions that athletes need more protection and low overturn rates of WADA bans made them less valid.
"That's a tribute to WADA," Burns said. "That's a way to avoid. It's an excuse by the leagues not to participate. It's good enough for FIFA. It is good enough for sports all over the world but not our professional leagues."
"Just about everybody else in the world has (WADA-level programs). I don't know if they have ever sat down with the government on that, but we've got a long way to go."
U.S. sport commissioners have argued to U.S. lawmakers everything from WADA's banned substance list not working for their leagues to non-US officials having power over U.S. teams and even WADA policy violating U.S. legal appeal due process.
The legal ramifications were no fear for Burns, the deputy director for state, local and tribal affairs at the White House office of national drug council policy.
"Tribunals around the world have tried cases under the code and the process has been upheld. Athletes are entitled to representation under the process," said Burns.
"What process do you want? Do you want full blown trials like we have in the U.S. and appeals while people with medals are waiting to find some resolution? How big and robust should it be?"
Last May's public appeal hearing of U.S. cyclist Floyd Landis, the 2006 Tour de France winner until a positive test after stage 17, was the most robust yet. Landis lost but is pressing his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport even as doping positives have shattered the Tour's credibility.
"Some people would say cycling would trump all major league sports put together. Some would say track and field is up there," Burns said. "The pro leagues are very high profile and it's important that we address them."
Perjury and obstruction of justice charges against U.S. baseball home run king Barry Bonds, the dope cheat confession of Marion Jones and bans imposed without a positive test on former 100m world-record holder Tim Montgomery have helped boost the U.S. anti-doping reputation globally, Burns said.
"We've now determined (testing) doesn't always work. That's why it has to be a multi-faced approach. We in the U.S. have stressed investigations and we will continue to do so," Burns said.
"George Bush said in the (2004) State of the Union we're going to push for fairer and clean sports. From that point we've pushed and we've pushed hard."
Burns called the Bonds case "just another example of how we are not simply going to look the other way just because someone is a high-profile athlete."
He called the upcoming report by former U.S. Senator George Mitchell on doping in Major League Baseball "something positive we can build on with the professional leagues." The report is due to be released by the end of the year.
A reliable test for human growth hormone is in the works but possibly not before next year's Beijing Olympics, Burns said.
"We have great scientists around the world. They are in the game on this. We're going to get there. It's just a matter of time," Burns said.
"If I knew (when) I would probably have some other job than some mid-level bureaucrat in the White House. But scientists say sooner rather than later.
"Before Beijing? I have no idea."
Burns wants to see U.S. leagues toughen their punishments for athletes testing positive for marijuana, a recreational drug legal in some nations but not in America. Some leagues have only a brief ban for any marijuana positive.
"If most Americans knew you can be a highly paid professional athlete and can smoke dope, they would be offended," Burns said.
