Doctor’s call for ‘clean sport’

THE doctor leading Bahrain’s fight against athletes using performance-enhancing drugs has called on coaches, medics and family members not to encourage the stars of track and field to cheat.

The kingdom is embroiled in an investigation surrounding the island’s first-ever Olympic gold medal success which could lead to 1,500 metre final winner Rashid Ramzi being stripped of his title.

In an exclusive interview with GulfWeekly, Dr Hussain Hassan Ahmed Al Haddad, head of the Bahrain Olympic Committee’s anti-doping commission, said: “Sadly, we do have doping in the Middle East. It may not be as complicated as what is found in the West but we do have certain situations in the Gulf.

“Why use drugs? For fame and money, some will risk it. But who can really tell why an athlete takes drugs? Some may do it because they are addicted or maybe to show off and some are pushed into doping by doctors, or coaches, or parents.

“The problem is a lot of   athletes don’t realise the likely side effects or appreciate the consequences.”

Dr Al Haddad, who is based in the Bahrain Olympics office in Umm Al Hassam, would not talk about the Ramzi issue, or any individual athlete, apart from stating that the committee was fully supportive of the runner as he goes through the appeal process. However, he feels it is important to discuss the issue of drugs in sport and to raise awareness of its dangers and potentially devastating outcome.

Dr Al Haddad, who has 20 years experience as a sports physician, was sent by General Organisation for Youth and Sports (Goys) as a representative by Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa to Copenhagen for the first anti-doping congress back in 2003.

Bahrain was one of the first countries to sign an anti-doping declaration and apply the World Anti-Doping Code to beat the cheats in sport and the doctor believes a strict testing regime is essential to ensure sporting events are clean.

He said: “We apply these rules and codes to keep the game fair. If someone takes a booster drug then that is cheating. How fair is that for those that actually work hard to get results? Testing makes things right.”

The code’s aim is to protect the athletes’ fundamental right to participate in doping-free sport and thus promote health, fairness, and equality for athletes worldwide and to ensure harmonised, coordinated, and effective anti-doping programmes at the international and national level with regard to detection, deterrence and prevention of doping.

Ramzi has tested positive for a new endurance-booster known as CERA. A follow up ‘B-test’ of his thawed out samples is taking place and its results will be announced on June 8.