What is known about John Fahey, the man who is going to take his place? He's an ex professional Rugby League player, State and Federal Government Minister here in Australia (on the conservative side, but not a crazy), and was part of organising the Sydney Olympics*. His style may be less confrontational, but Australia has the strictest anti-doping policy in the world, and I would expect no let up on the technical side/testing regime, or any major changing of the penalties. *Best. Olympics. Ever. According to Juan Antonio Samaranch, anyway. And if you can't trust one of Franco's henchmen, who can you trust?
I think it's obvious that the existence of WADA is a very good thing -- when it comes to exposing cheating, the International Federations and the National Olympic Committees proved that they could not be trusted to expose the cheaters that they had so much invested in. The creation of WADA and the WADA Code is a critical first step in making sure that anti-doping enforcement is uniform across countries and sports. Since Pound played a critical role in creating WADA and getting it off the ground, you've got to say that he's been a major positive force. I have been critical of Pound's public statements in the past and I don't agree with all points of his philosophy. But the rant lbb linked to is a bit off the mark on some topics, too. For example: "Dick Pound may be a part of the reason that doping is much discussed by sports journalists, fans and bloggers, but he is only a small part. But the biggest reason that doping is discussed so much is that so many more scandals are reported these days, rather than quietly covered up or brushed aside." The reason it's so much harder to cover these things up or brush them aside is because of the existence of WADA, which has no particular interest in the earning power or the attraction of star athletes.
We discussed Dick Pound previously. The article I linked to gives a good history of how the man became the Anti-Doping Crusader.
And now there may (or may not) be another candidate for the job.
And now there may (or may not) be another candidate for the job. Wow. That looks like an absolutely lovely internal shitfight in the making.
