South African cyclist David George, a former teammate of Lance Armstrong, has admitted to making use of the blood-boosting drug EPO and said the sport had given him experiences “no person or young athlete should have to go through.” “I fully understand the consequences of my admission and will bear the results of this,” George said.

On August 29, the former US Postal Service rider failed an out-of-competition doping test, according to the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport. George was provisionally suspended by Cycling South Africa ahead of an independent tribunal and is now facing a ban of two years.

George rendered an apology to his sponsors but the backer of his current 360Life team, Nedbank, said it was immediately withdrawing its sponsorship.

“Nedbank has a zero tolerance towards the use of any banned substances or performance enhancing drugs and does not condone or support such use in any sport,” the South African bank said.

David George cycled on the disgraced Lance Armstrong’s US Postal team in 1999 and 2000 and was one of the top cyclists of South Africa and won the South African time trial championships five times and road race championships in 2003.

“Cycling, as you know, has been a confusing space, and although it has given me incredible moments it has also given me experiences that no person or young athlete should have to go through,” George said.

“His biological passport indicated suspicious activity and that triggered a targeted test for EPO,” SAIDS chief executive Khalid Galant said earlier Tuesday, announcing the positive test. “A subsequent urine test came back positive for the banned EPO drug.”

Tags:  biological passport, Cycling South Africa, David George, Doping test, EPO, Lance Armstrong

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Jose Canseco, former major league star, has been suspended from the Mexican League after allegedly refusing to undergo a doping test.

Refusing to take a doping test is treated the same as testing positive in the league, said Mexican League president Plinio Escalante.

From Espn.go.com:

Quintana Roo Tigers team president Cuauhtemoc Rodriguez says doping-control doctors advised Canseco against taking the test because he was using a medicine to produce testosterone.

He says Canseco already had informed the team he was using the medicine because his body doesn’t produce the substance naturally.

Canseco told ESPNDeportes he has a prescription for the testosterone treatment and “can’t live without it.”

“How can I test positive when I never took any test don’t believe everything the media tells you. The truth always comes out I am not using any illegal substance,” Canseco tweeted. “Don’t be so quick to judge till you here the truth that’s a sure sign of ignorance hatred and jealousy.”

Tags:  Doping test, Jose Canseco, testosterone, testosterone treatment

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Riccardo Ricco, the cyclist from Italy, has made an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to reduce his two-year ban.

Italian authorities handed down the penalty on Ricco and he was banned from the sport by the Anti-doping Tribunal of the National Olympic Committee of Italy (CONI) on October 2 after testing positive for CERA, a third generation version of banned substance EPO.

From Espnstar.com:

The 25-year-old, after initially denying the allegations, eventually pleaded guilty and named the doctor who had given him the substance, as well as another rider, in an effort to get a reduced punishment.

A decision on Ricco’s appeal will likely be reached within four months.

A statement released today by CAS read: “The CONI Anti-doping Tribunal has imposed a suspension of two years on Ricco after a positive doping test with EPO, performed during the Tour de France 2008.

“The athlete requests the reduction of the suspension on the basis of his collaboration with the authorities in this matter.

“The directions with respect to the arbitration procedure will be issued later on by the Tribunal in accordance with the Code of Sports-related Arbitration.

“As a general rule, CAS delivers its decisions within four months from the filing of the appeal.”

Ricco won two stages on the Tour – the second with a spectacular finish on one of the toughest mountain climbs.

If the appeal fails, the former Saunier Duval rider will not be able to race again before July 30, 2010.

Tags:  CERA, Doping test, EPO, Riccardo Ricco, Tour de France

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Football could face elimination threat from Olympic if its chief bodies, FIFA and its European counterpart UEFA, failed to fulfill the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (Wada) “whereabouts” code.

The governing bodies said that they wanted to respect players’ privacy and Wada’s new code did not follow it. According to new code, athletes must make themselves available to testers for one hour a day, three months in advance and Wada wants football to join the fight against steroid abuse.

However, FIFA and UEFA asked Wada to review its position on the ‘whereabouts’ rule. The governing bodies wanted to draw attention towards the fundamental differences between an individual athlete, who trains on his own, and a team sport’s athlete, who is present at the stadium six days out of seven and thus easy to locate. Both of the bodies also want to substiute individual ‘whereabouts’ rule by collective location rules. Prior, the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) had already signalled their opposition to the WADA’s new code of doping.

However, Wada general secretary David Howman said that the sport could be removed from the Olympics. He also added that there was a clause in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) charter that stated that- it falls in the IOC jurisdiction and not ours.

From BBC:

Football’s place in the Olympics could be under threat if its chief bodies do not comply with the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (Wada) “whereabouts” code.

Wada wants football to join sports like athletics and provide players’ location for one hour each day of the year.

World football body, Fifa, and its European counterpart, Uefa, said they wanted to respect players’ privacy.

“The sport could be removed from the Olympics,” Wada general secretary David Howman told BBC 5 Live.

He added: “There is a clause in the IOC (International Olympic Committee) charter that states this – it falls in the IOC jurisdiction and not ours.”

However, Fifa president Sepp Blatter, who sits on Wada’s board, said that football’s world governing body had teamed up with other team sports, such as basketball, ice hockey and rugby union, to oppose the rules. He said that they were a little bit surprised that through certain declarations [Wada] said that no exceptions would be made.

“One of the key principles of efficient doping control is the surprise effect and the possibility to test an athlete without advance notice on a 365-day basis,” responses John Fahey, President of Wada.

Tags:  Doping test, FIFA, International Olympic Committee, steroid abuse, UEFA, WADA

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