cannabisnews.com: Salt Lake May Host IOC Drug Agency Meeting





Salt Lake May Host IOC Drug Agency Meeting
Posted by FoM on January 07, 2000 at 16:42:45 PT
By Lisa Riley Roche, Deseret News Staff Writer
Source: Deseret News
The more than two dozen countries pushing to be included in the International Olympic Committee's new doping control agency may meet in Salt Lake City this spring to come up with a plan, White House drug czar Barry McCaffrey said Friday.
"We want to see results before the beginning of the Sydney Games," in September, including the naming of representatives from Australia and the United States to the IOC's World Anti-Doping Agency, McCaffrey told the Deseret News."I want it to be clearly understood this is not the United States dealing with the IOC, it's an international body," McCaffrey said. "This is not a U.S. demand on the table. What we're saying is we're not going to tolerate rhetoric. We want change."The agency, created to police the use of performance-enhancing drugs by athletes, has the final say on who can participate, but IOC leaders have said they'll go along with whatever plan that countries interested in joining can agree on.Other issues that the nations will discuss include how the results of drug tests during the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney and the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City should be managed and making sure the agency remains open and accountable.McCaffrey expects support from the IOC's agency for whatever proposals come out of the meeting. "It's hard to imagine there's much argument, to be honest with what we're doing," he said. "I can't imagine why men and women of goodwill won't move in this direction."The meeting, which is likely to be held in May, is being organized by government leaders from Canada and Australia, as well as the United States. But McCaffrey has been the most vocal critic of the IOC agency and its structure.The retired Army general went so far as to label the IOC "a group of self-appointed people hiding behind a myth" led by a "former fascist," at a Deseret News editorial board meeting last September. Then, he was calling for control of drug testing to be taken away from the IOC entirely.Now, though, he's working with the IOC. Next week, McCaffrey will travel to IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, for the first meeting of the new agency on Thursday. He and Denis Coderre, Canada's secretary of state for amateur sports and Amanda Vanstone, Australia's minister for justice and customs, will meet with IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch.McCaffrey has already sat down with Samaranch since his critical comments, as well as the head of the doping control agency, IOC Vice President Dick Pound of Canada. The three have agreed to pursue a number of issues raised by McCaffrey.Those issues were dealt with at an international summit on drugs in sport held in Sydney last November. The list of countries seeking governmental participation in the IOC's agency include China, France, Germany, Italy, India, Japan, Korea, Norway, South Africa and the United Kingdom.Currently, the agency's board is made up of IOC members, sports officials, athletes and others. The IOC is the primary source of funding for the agency, contributing some $25 million.Published: January 7, 2000Copyright © 2000, Deseret News Publishing Corp. Related Articles:Drug Czar Ruffles IOC Feathers - 12/15/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread4016.shtmlDrug Czar Changes Tune On IOC Testing - 12/02/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3855.shtmlMcCaffrey To Call for Pound's Removal at IOC - 11/17/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3697.shtmlMcCaffery Accepts IOC Invitation - 11/16/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3687.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by Chris Campbell on January 07, 2000 at 22:02:18 PT:
McCrazy
"a group of self-appointed people hiding behind a myth" led by a "former fascist"I almost thought he was writing a drug war autobiography, then I realized he's a current fascist; not a former fascist.
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