November 2, 2007 (Montreal, QC) – Montreal lawyer, Patrice M. Brunet, is an authority on doping in sports. Pedal readers may recognize his name as the chairman of the three-person American Arbitration Agency (AAA) panel that found cyclist Floyd Landis guilty of doping at the 2006 Tour de France and thus stripped of his title. Brunet also describes himself as an arbitrator with the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada, and the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

Now, Brunet has written a guest editorial for three major Canadian newspapers advocating new laws for doping in sports. Brunet sent Pedal a copy and we present it here in its entirety.

Not Without My Entourage
Doctors, Coaches, And Therapists Involved In Doping Must Also Face Consequences

by Patrice M. Brunet, lawyer

In Canada, sports doping infractions seldom end up on the Attorney General’s desk. Doped athletes are ultimately only sidelined. As for the doctors, coaches, and therapists who encouraged them to dope in the first place, they are, at worst, expelled from their profession, but never brought to justice.

The Ben Johnson scandal and the Dubin Commission in the early 90s catapulted Canada into the position of world leader in the fight against doping. Revelations on the scale of doping in Canadian sport led the authorities to draft their own anti-doping policies and sign international treaties and conventions. But almost 20 years on, Canada has run out of steam and appears unaware of the most recent doping challenges in sport. Even though our country is widely respected in its fight against the doping of athletes, it has not yet armed itself with effective ways to eliminate doping from their entourages.

The past two years have seen numerous foreign athletes found guilty of, or confess to, doping offences. The often determining influence of their entourages is now widely acknowledged, but even today the price to pay is of a personal rather than judicial nature. Beyond being stripped of their titles and suspended by their sporting federations, doped athletes are ultimately only sidelined. As for the doctors, coaches, and therapists who encouraged them to dope in the first place, they are, at worst, expelled from their profession, but never brought to justice.

Tough legislation

A number of countries have adopted tough legislation aimed not only at doped athletes but also their entourages. After several years of playing catch-up in the endorsement of international anti-doping rules, France’s National Assembly finally passed an ordinance on May 23, 2006. “Prescribing, selling, offering, [or] administering” doping agents to athletes or “facilitating their use or encouraging, in any way whatsoever, athletes to use them” is now an offence punishable by five years’ imprisonment and a 75,000 Euros (approx. $103,000 Cdn) fine in France.

Sentences rise to seven years’ imprisonment and a 150,000 Euro (approx. $206,000 Cdn) fine for offences involving minors. The law goes even further and bans convicted offenders from working in the public service. In Italy and Spain, coaches can be sent to prison for aiding and abetting, and pharmacists and doctors are put under investigation. In a growing number of countries, cyclists, soccer players, and other sporting icons end up in court for having taken and sold doping products.

The key element in recent legislation is that it targets athletes’ entourages. It is not directed solely at the athletes, who are easily replaceable. In fact, France specifically protects athletes from legal sanctions precisely to encourage them to confess.

By criminalizing the behaviour of those who contribute to doping in sports with threats of imprisonment and hefty fines, these measures seek to dissuade other professionals from becoming involved. Canadian law currently has no provisions to punish coaches who do not handle illicit substances directly – they walk away with a red face – that’s it.

Health of young athletes

It is no accident that France’s new anti-doping measures, for example, come under the athletes’ health section of the sporting code. More and more, governments realize the extent to which doping constitutes a major public health issue. The scourge has taken on such proportions and is so well organized and sophisticated that if nothing is done to put a stop to it, the health of a whole generation of young athletes will be at risk. Our children will grow up believing that the only way they can get to the top of their sport is by taking drugs. For every champion that takes drugs, there are 100 children who dream of taking his or her place. Many will get caught up in the horrendous cycle of drugs and suffer permanent damage to their livers, kidneys, and hearts – if they are fortunate enough not to die prematurely.

Should doping be made a criminal offence in Canada? The time has come to ask ourselves the question. The details need to be thought out, but we already have all the necessary institutions, including the doping control laboratory at INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier in Montreal – accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) – and the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES), which is tasked with enforcing the anti-doping program in Canada.

All that is lacking is the political will. It is not a case of starting a witch hunt, but rather of implementing a policy of dissuasion. Doping must be punished with the full force of our collective disapproval. Sport appeals to values of fair play, fairness, and good health in society. Conversely, society must do everything in its power to safeguard these values and to benefit sports in its turn. We must give ourselves the means to eradicate this scourge.

By arming itself with responsible and effective means of dissuasion enshrined in a federal anti-doping act, Canada will build on the leadership role it earned in the 90s. And it will help restore sport’s credibility rather than stand idly by as it spirals into a spectacle devoid of meaning and admiration.