Drug testers crack down on school doping

14 June 2011 - 13:23 By Sbu H Mjikeliso
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South Africa's drug busters are to crack down on rampant doping in school sports - which has more than doubled in the past year - starting with this year’s Craven Week rugby tournament.

Dian Badenhorst from Grey College scores a try during the 2009 u13 Coca-Cola Week match between Cheetahs and Zimbabwe in Kimberley. This picture is to illustrate the story and does NOT implicate any of the players or teams in doping.
Dian Badenhorst from Grey College scores a try during the 2009 u13 Coca-Cola Week match between Cheetahs and Zimbabwe in Kimberley. This picture is to illustrate the story and does NOT implicate any of the players or teams in doping.
Image: Carl Fourie

And government is considering legislation to take action against those supplying the dope.

The SA Institute for Drug Free Sport, boosted by a cash injection from the department of Sports and Recreation, on Tuesday launched an "I Play Fair - Say No to Doping" initiative to counter the increase in school-going dopers.

“Our SA doping control stats clearly show the use of performance enhancing drugs is on the increase among adolescent athletes and among the adult population,” institute chairman Shuaib Manjra said.

“Our latest positive doping stats for the period April 1 2010 to March 30 2011 show a doubling to 50 positive tests from 19 for the year before.”

This increase has been attributed the widespread availability of supplements that contain banned substances like anabolic steroids, pro hormones and stimulants.

“With the recent acknowledged use of steroids in schools, we will also step up this initiative around the up and coming Craven rugby weeks, with an increased awareness drive and increased drug testing. We will ensure we get face time with adolescent rugby players.

“It is important to protect our athletes, especially high school athletes, who in many cases are unknowingly purchasing illegal steroids and are under the false impression they are taking a permissible sports supplement.”

The institute has identified new media, such as Twitter and Facebook, as a key means of getting the anti-doping message across.

Manjra pointed out that testing scholars would not be easy as there were stumbling blocks such as parental consent for testing minors - the institute's jurisdiction is currently professional sports.

Sports and Recreation Minister Fikile Mbalula warned that the supplement supplier industry needed to be regulated, as is the case with pharmaceutical products.

“It’s a big and unregulated industry, at the present moment, in terms of this campaign," Mbalula said. "Part of the work that we have to do is the review of the law itself.”

“At the present moment the law in its totality does not actually guarantee that all of those who are found to be supplying supplements will actually be on the wrong side of the law,” said Mbalula.

Manjra added: “It is not a South African problem but a global one. (The industry) is worth billions of dollars and has interest in sports. It’s a critical industry and one that needs to be regulated.”

Responding to a question on whether parliament needed an ethics or anti-doping committee, Mbalula said: “Maybe that might be necessary because we are reviving schools sport in a big way … We will look at how the legislation can empower us to basically preserve the future of this country through schools sport.”

The South African Rugby Union (Saru) is also backing the initiative.

Saru’s medical manager Clint Readhead said doping compromised the health of players, went against the ethos of rugby and was simply cheating.

Dries de Wal, director of rugby at Grey College, one of the country’s biggest rugby schools, said they supported the initiative.

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