Japan in Lead Battling 'Cowardly and Deplorable' Sports Doping
(Mainichi Shimbun, Japan)
"The fact that the disgraced Alex Rodriguez is being
slotted back into the lineup, is manning third base, and is batting cleanup, is
somewhat troubling. We wish to emphasize that not only do these drugs have
negative long-term effects on an athlete's body, but to rely on them to boost
on-field results is a fundamentally cowardly and deplorable act. It debases the
very meaning and value of sports. We must add that Japan merits recognition as
the global leader in anti-doping efforts."
Alex Rodriguez, aka/A-Rod: Once one of the most promising players in Major League baseball, he may be playing out his swan song as doping charges against him are judged by an arbitrator.
The
most recent examples are 13 players suspended by Major League Baseball (MLB) for violating the league's rules on performance enhancing
drugs (PEDs). Not since it began drug testing in
2003 has the MLB punished such a large number of
players for doping. At the top of this ignominious list is New York Yankee
superstar Alex Rodriguez, who was slapped with a whopping 211 game suspension
for destroying evidence and obstructing an investigation. If the suspension
holds up on appeal, Rodriguez will be barred from playing baseball until the
end of the 2014 season.
The
MLB based the suspensions - including a 65-game
penalty for 2011 National League MVP Ryan Braun - on evidence obtained from the
man who ran a now-defunct Florida clinic which provided the drugs. The damning
documentary evidence includes client lists as well as eyewitness accounts. The
fact that MLB Commissioner Bud Selig decided to
impose such harsh penalties, despite the absence of positive drug tests, shows
just how determined he is to eliminate doping from the majors.
Twelve
of the 13 players named have accepted their suspensions without argument, with
only Rodriguez taking his case to an MLB arbitrator.
Right after his suspension was announced, the 38-year-old Rodriguez took the
field against the White Sox in Chicago - his first game in a Yankee uniform
since being sidelined by hip surgery in January. Chicago fans were not kind, raining
down boos and catcalls on the embattled superstar. Under MLB
arbitration rules, "A-Rod" can keep playing until the arbitrator rules
on his appeal. Even so, the fact that the disgraced Rodriguez is being slotted back
into the lineup, is manning third base, and is batting cleanup, is somewhat
troubling.
Major
League Baseball is, however, far from the only sport hit by doping scandals.
Track stars Asafa Powell of Jamaica and Tyson Gay of
the United States have both tested positive for PEDs,
so will not appear at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics set to begin in
Moscow on Aug. 10. And then there's U.S. cyclist Lance Armstrong, who had his
seven consecutive Tour de France titles stripped from him, and has been banned
from the sport for life after overwhelming evidence showed that he, too, had
been doping.
The
common thread among all these cases is the money factor, specifically how much
of it a successful athlete can make. Alex Rodriguez, for example, is now in the
sixth year of a 10-year, $275 million contract with the Yankees. His salary for
2013 alone is $28 million, making him the highest paid player in the majors.
So
for athletes reaching the limit of their natural abilities, and who are looking
for that one extra boost to help them reach the big time, performance enhancing
drugs are an enormous temptation. That is the sad reality. We wish to
emphasize, however, that not only do these drugs have negative long-term
effects on an athlete's body, but to rely on them to boost on-field results is
a fundamentally cowardly and deplorable act. It debases the very meaning and
value of sports.
Posted By Worldmeets.US
In
June this year, the Japan Anti-Doping Agency, the World Anti-Doping Agency and
the Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Associations of Japan, issued a
joint statement declaring they would "push forward with anti-doping
activities and protect the value of sports." They also agreed to cooperate
on preventing the illicit use of drugs still in development and establishing new
detection methods. For this, we must add that Japan merits recognition as the global
leader in anti-doping efforts. Furthermore, in the future, we'd like to be able
to report that the end of doping began here in Japan.
