A New Dimension in the Fight against Doping

The first anti-doping conference of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) on 14. September 2007 in Frankfurt marked a milestone in the fight against doping. How seriously Germany's elite sport associations take the doping issue was shown by the attendance of more than 250 delegates from all (without an exception) DOSB member associations. Not less than 20 high-ranking experts who spearhead the fight against doping, among them professors from the faculties of sports medicine and law from universities throughout Germany, the chairman of the National Anti-doping Agency, the man at the top of German doping controllers, the team physician of the German Olympic team, the director of the anti-doping lab in Cologne and - last but not least - the parliamentary state secretary of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, were invited by DOSB to speak about all aspects of doping and anti-doping. The conference was facilitated by Dr. Michael Vesper, Director General of DOSB, and financed with the help of the Federal Ministry of the Interior.

After the welcome speech of DOSB vice president Eberhard Gienger, Dr. Thomas Bach spoke out clearly for success - but against "dirty victories" in his opening speech for part I of the conference - " Legal Foundations". He also stated that DOSB was following a strict "zero tolerance policy" when it comes to doping. Prof. Dr. Ulrich Haas, chair of the National Anti-Doping Committee and arbitrator at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne (CAS), gave a presentation on the regulatory framework and the development of the WADA and NADA Codes, followed by Klaus Pöhle, Ministerialdirigent at the Federal Ministry of the Interior, who lectured on the German Medicines Law as recently amended.

Part II of the conference, "The doping control system", started with a presentation by the NADA Director Dr. Christoph Niessen and the executive of the German doping controllers, Dr. Helmut Pabst on the subject, followed by Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Schänzer, Director of the Laboratory for Doping Analysis German Sports University Cologne, with his presentation on various aspects of doping, including test methods, gene doping, doping traps, illegal additives and contamination of dietary supplements and regenerative products. Eventually, the district court president and president of the German Ski Association (DSV) Dr. Franz Steinle talked about the Missed Test Policy and the consequences athletes are facing in case of a no-show at spot checks during training without having checked out with the NADA.

Selected top sports associations were given the opportunity to present their anti-doping measures in part IV of the conference, "Best Practise and Doping Prevention". DOSB spokesperson Claudia Bokel made very clear that in order to support "clean" athletes, anti-doping measures and the fight against doping were of significant importance to be able to counter the generalized public image of doping suspicion built up by the media against top athletes with a strong evidence of negative doping controls. Dr. Christa Thiel, president of the German Swimming Association (DSV) and Prof. Dr. Walter Schmitt of the University of Bayreuth presented the latest blood profiles of the athletes of the German Swimming Association, followed by a presentation of Dr. Anne Jakob on the new agreement of the members of the German Athletics Association (DLV) and Dr. Bernd Wolfahrt, who introduced the " Athlete's Passport" - hot off the presses - and the medical database of the DSB . Last but not least, Dr. Rolf Müller, president of the Hessian Federal Sports Association, and Ingo Rolf Weiss talked about doping prevention in Germany's sports associations and the German Sport Youth.

The conference was DOSB's largest informative event on doping and anti-doping ever, and the presentations repeatedly interrupted by lively discussions. The German Dancesport Association DTV was represented by the DTV physician, DTV's anti-doping representative Thomas Wirth and German Sports Director Michael Eichert.

Text: DTV-Webteam