24 February 2015

Athletes & sport call for German government to clarify doping law

Athletes and national sporting organisations have joined the German Olympic committee (DOSB) in urging the Federal Government to clarify and amend aspects of its Doping in Sport Bill, which would criminalise doping in sport. Both the DOSB Athletes’ Commission and the national sports associations said that they shared the concerns raised by the DOSB in its 12-page document, which was sent to the Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection, the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Federal Ministry of Health on 28 January, as part of the consultation process over the Bill.

However, the DOSB raised additional concerns in its eight-page document, which was sent to the German government on 20 February as part of the same consultation process. These include uncertainty over how athlete possession of performance-enhancing drugs would be handled under a criminal law. ‘Above all, there is uncertainty that medicines prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) may unknowingly come into the possession of athletes, or through negligence’, read the document. This could include medication or unintentionally coming into contact with other substances used by other athletes to dope, or contaminated food, read the document. It suggested legislation on labelling of drugs and supplements to assist with this.

It also criticised the all-encompassing definition of professional athlete as one who earns money from sport under the Bill. It asked whether youth athletes who are already in the testing pool of the German anti-doping agency (NADA) would be included; and how much money would an athlete have to earn in order for the criminal law to apply.

The Athletes’ Commission also said that it would seek for talks to be held between the DOSB, NADA and the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information about who will be responsible for handling athlete data under the Bill. It also reiterated that the creation of criminal sanctions for sporting offences would further undermine the agreement between athletes and sporting organisations that disputes should be arbitrated, rather than proceeding to a court of law. It also said that if sport is brought under the remit of German law, this could enshrine the right to refuse doping controls.

These principles have already been threatened by a 15 January ruling in a Munich Court (Oberlandesgericht München) allowing speed skater Claudia Pechstein to proceed in a damages claim against the International Skating Union (ISU). In its ruling, the Munich court declared the agreement to arbitrate all cases before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) as void. The DOSB has already asked the ISU to consider a retrial of Pechstein’s case.

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