The criminal underworld now controls a large proportion of world sport, World Anti-Doping Agency director general David Howman said on Wednesday.
Howman told a doping conference convened by the World Sports Law Report at Twickenham rugby stadium that the criminal elements who controlled illegal betting were also involved in steroid trafficking.
“My inside information has it that the underworld is now controlling a significant proportion of world sport,” he said.
“The criminal underworld is providing prohibited substances. For $100 you might get a return back of between $10000 and $100000. That’s a good return on your investment, the criminal world thinks it’s wonderful.
“They are also involved in money laundering and bribery and so on.”
Howman said there was more money made in trafficking illegal performance-enhancing drugs than in dealing heroin with criminals obtaining the raw materials for illegal drugs and producing them in kitchen laboratories.
“Then they are distributed to our kids and our grandchildren. People are dying,” he said.”
Howman told reporters his information came from law enforcement people “far more experienced and knowledgeable than any one of us”.
“They say the underworld is involved in betting, in distributing steroids and it’s the same jokers, it’s not anybody new,” he said.
“I have been saying this for five or six years and now INTERPOL are justifying it. They now have the numbers and the information and they are really worried about it.”
Howman also told the conference there was evidence that there had been attempts to bribe doping control officers with money in brown envelopes.
He told reporters the amounts involved were “thousands of dollars”.
BIOLOGICAL PASSPORTS
Pat McQuaid, president of the International Cycling Federation (UCI), told the conference disciplinary proceedings had been opened against seven riders on the basis of evidence from their biological passports which were introduced into the sport in 2008.
All professional riders have to provide blood samples to the UCI, which creates a unique medical profile of each athlete.
The original profile is compared to the findings after the athletes have given urine and blood samples for subsequent dope tests to see if there have been any significant discrepancies.
McQuaid said five riders had been sanctioned and two cases had gone to appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
“There are a lot of sports that say they are clean sports,” McQuaid said. “David Howman said no sport is clean sport, every sport is touched by doping.
“For any sport that wants to retain its credibility in the fight against doping and retain its credibility with its fans and its audience, biological passports are a very good way of doing it.
“You can monitor the preformance of an athlete for his whole elite career, it gives a lot more confidence in terms of what your athletes are doing.”
The UCI is also considering whether to appeal to CAS against a Spanish cycling federation decision to lift a one-year ban on Tour de France champion Alberto Contador after a positive test for the anabolic agent clenbuterol in last year’s race.
MccQuaid said lawyers were examining the decision and had until March 24 to lodge an appeal.