Doping athletes increase by 178% in a year

The number of South African athletes taking performance-enhancing drugs has increased by 178% in a year - and efforts to stamp out widespread doping at schools are being confounded by a legislative vacuum.

The SA Institute for Drug-Free Sports said in its annual report yesterday that, of the 2308 athletes tested between April and March, 51 (2.2%) tested positive for drugs use.

This was an increase of 178% from last year's 18 of 2284 athletes (0.8%).

The institute's CEO, Khalid Galant, said anabolic steroids were the drug of choice for 42% of the athletes who tested positive.

Describing the increase as "shocking", Galant said it could largely be attributed to the wide availability of sports supplements containing banned substances such as anabolic steroids, hormones and stimulants.

"We have embarked on a huge drive to warn athletes about the dangers of taking supplements that have poor scientific evidence of benefits and that present the athlete with a high risk of contamination with a prohibited substance."

Galant said the institute would focus on regulating supplements.

Its chairman, Dr Shuaib Manjra, described the rise in drugs abuse as "significant by any measure".

"Whether this [revelation] is a positive for the institute or an indictment of our sporting community is debatable.

"At least three high-profile athletes - two Springbok rugby players and a provincial cricketer - have recently tested positive for taking unregulated substances."

Manjra said doping at school-level sports continued to be a problem because it dominated headlines - but "impediments" prevented the authorities from conducting doping tests.

The institute falls under the department of sports and culture and has statutory drug-testing powers over all sporting codes. But the authorities do not have the power to conduct random tests.

Manjra said: "Impediments to our entry into schools are being reviewed and we hope a resolution will lead to a full anti-doping programme, but the bulk of the activity should be directed at ensuring that we imbue learners with the principles of ethics and fair play in sport."

Paena Galane, spokesmen for Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula, said the institute's hands were tied when it came to doping tests at schools.

"[The institute] is the only recognised body. What they want is legislation that enables the institute to go into school sports and ensure that that kind of programme takes place," he said.

"The legislation is now in the processing stage in parliament. The schools programme will be launched in October and we expect the legislation [debate] will have been addressed," said Galane.

The report came just over a month after the Craven Week schools rugby tournament was hit by a doping scandal.

Galant said last month that four boys, some as young as 17, tested positive for banned anabolic steroids and faced bans from sport of up to two years.

"Of the four positives, two results also showed high levels of testosterone and these tests have been sent off for further analysis in Germany to verify whether the levels of testosterone are due to external sources or naturally produced by the body," he said.

Last year, Griquas under-19 fullback Abrie Marais and Eastern Province's under-19 flyhalf Jonathan Mudrovcic got two-year bans for the use of norandrosterone, a steroid.

In November, Free State Cheetahs under-19 flyhalf Johan Goosen - who was named Craven Week player of the year and represented the country in the SA Schools team - was given a three-month ban after testing positive for methylhexaneamine, the same substance that Springboks Chiliboy Ralepelle and Bjorn Basson tested positive for.

But Ralepelle and Basson, who tested positive for the banned stimulant during the Boks' end-of-year tour last year, were found not guilty at a disciplinary hearing in January.

The committee found that the players had not knowingly taken the banned stimulant.

Provincial cricket player Vaughn van Jaarsveld tested positive for a stimulant in October but got off with a warning.

Galane said Mbalula was shocked by the statistics when he received the report two weeks ago.

"He said this was not encouraging," said Galane.

Basic Education spokes-man Panyaza Lesufi said doping was a "problem" in the schools.

He said the department's drugs policy was zero-tolerant.

"We have a partnership with law-enforcement agencies to do spot checks during sport events and school days," Lesufi said.

"We want excellence based on talent and not other things."

He said a school sport policy on which the public would be able comment, and which might include a section on doping, would be published soon. - Additional reporting by Sapa