The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) believes the time is right to finally get U.S. college and professional sports to recognise the anti-doping Code and has proposed a road map to jump start the effort, president Witold Banka told Reuters.
U.S. college and professional sports have long been viewed as a black hole by anti-doping officials with spotty testing and punishments often cloaked in secrecy.
The U.S. is a signatory to the WADA Code but as private businesses the National Football League, Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association and National Hockey League are not bound by the rules sport federations must adhere to in order to allow American athletes to compete internationally.
While WADA would like to see all U.S. sport recognise the Code, the anti-doping body believes getting the NCAA, the governing body for college sport, on board is the place to start.
Many U.S. Olympians in sports from athletics to gymnastics come out of the college system and are already subject to regular testing.
Banka said the subject was discussed at a recent meeting with the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) where the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) and the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) responded positively.
