Contador has right to defend title

The International Cycling Union, or UCI, recently remarked that Alberto Contador has the right to defend his Tour de France title next month.

Cycling’s world governing body challenges decision of the Spanish federation to acquit Contador of doping in the race last year.

From Bloomberg.com:

“The UCI recognizes the legitimacy of the request made by Mr. Contador’s defense team, and has accepted that request in the interests of guaranteeing the rider a fair trial,” the cycling body said in a release. “However, the UCI also perfectly understands why the timetable set by the Court of Arbitration for Sport has caused some disappointment, even incomprehension, among many observers within the cycling community as well as the general public.”
Contador, 28, faces a possible two-year ban and loss of his 2010 Tour de France title if the court finds against him. The UCI’s management committee echoed the view of International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge that Contador be presumed innocent until a verdict is rendered, the UCI added.
Contador was cleared of wrongdoing by the Spanish cycling federation after testing positive for clenbuterol at the 2010 race.

The three-time Tour winner is free to “take part in any competition in so far as he has not been found guilty” by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, as per the UCI.

ODI opener to face ICC doping panel

Upul Tharanga, the Sri Lanka ODI opener, will appear before an International Cricket Council hearing on Friday to answer doping charges.

Tharanga tested positive for a banned drug after Sri Lanka's World Cup semi-final against New Zealand in March.

From Bookmakersinc.co.uk:

However, the International Cricket Council (ICC) still has to confirm whether Tharanga failed a doping test. Many of the player’s fans that closely follow the cricket odds wonder what the outcome of this will be, and what could happen to the player.
“As a matter of ICC policy and in accordance with ICC and Wada (World Anti-Doping Agency) regulations, we do not comment on anti-doping matters of this nature,” a spokesman told the BBC.
Tharanga, limited-overs specialist, played in15 Test appearances and 121 one-day internationals, helping to make very good cricket odds, but is not in the Test squad for Sri Lanka’s current England tour.
In the meantime, Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Sri Lanka’s sports minister, ordered a three-member panel to look into Tharanga’s failed drug test, although he still has to receive official confirmation coming from the ICC, and many of the player’s fans wonder what will happen, and hope that everything goes well for the player.

Tharanga said he received a steroid for an asthma-related problem by a Colombo-based faith healer, who also treats other international players.

MLS haunted by drug use

The Major League Soccer (MLS) has suspended Columbus Crew defender Josh Williams after he was found violating its substance abuse policy June 8.

Five players from the Mexican national team were suspended on June 9 for allegedly testing positive for a banned anabolic steroid.

From Oregonlive.com:

Several current MLS players said they think Williams' suspension will prove to be an aberration, in part because of the league's strong track record on drug prevention and in part because soccer players don't feel pressure to bulk up.

"I don't think people are doing it in general at all," Colorado forward Conor Casey said. "And the guys that are, I would doubt that they're doing it on purpose."

Williams is the third player in the league's 16 years to be suspended for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. Defender Jeff Parke and goalkeeper Jon Conway of the New York Red Bulls were each suspended 10 games and fined 10 percent their salaries in 2008 for using PEDs (androstatriendione and boldenone metabolites, that, according to the league, were ingredients in an over-the-counter nutritional supplement the players purchased at a vitamin store).

Mexico's soccer federation suspended five national team players after the players tested positive for clenbuterol. However, on Thursday, the federation said results from a second test conducted June 10 came back negative.

"There is no place in sport for performance enhancing drugs," MLS commissioner Don Garber said in a statement. "We continue to hold our players responsible and accountable for everything they ingest in order to ensure the integrity of our competition."

Professional Boxing high on performance enhancing drugs

The use of performance enhancing drugs is on an increase in almost all professional and amateur sports, including professional boxing.

Sportsmen use these performance enhancement drugs for improving performance or adding extra pounds on that bench press or to get bigger in a shorter period of time.

From Boxingnews24.com:

There are anabolic steroids (medicines: androstenedione, ephedrine, stanozolol and nandrolone just to mention a few) for humans and even for animal use, human growth hormone (HGH, somatrotopine), and design laboratories drugs (tetrahydrogestrinone – THG) that have been used to improve the performance of athletes, but even some food supplements are banned; the hyperbaric chambers could be considered as a non natural way to increase your performance in some cases.

The use of performance enhancement drugs gives an illicit advantage to the user, it is shameful and disgraceful, and in some cases it could be even a coward attitude to take that illicit edge on your opponent.

Some argue that PEDS wont give you the skills but they do will give you extra strength, stamina, resistance, speed and power, so if I am a fighter who has average boxing skills I might be able to improve my physique so much that I could end up beating guys who are better naturally gifted than me and even also the ones who are more skilled than me.

Many successful sportsmen of the past had admitted to making the use of anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs and the world of professional boxing cannot be the exception.

Doctor pleads guilty of steroid conspiracy charge

Dr. Raymond Heller of Omaha, a doctor from Nebraska, pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court in Tulsa to taking part in a steroids conspiracy.

The prosecutor said Heller distributed more than 40,000 dosage units to dozens of customers across the country.

From Tulsaworld.com:

Dr. Raymond Heller of Omaha admitted that from Oct. 1, 2008, until April 8, 2010, he participated in a plot to dispense anabolic steroids outside the usual course of professional medical practice and without a legitimate medical purpose.

Heller, 49, stated in his plea agreement that he was paid $50 for each prescription he signed by Edward Franklin Ward, 51, of Harvest, Ala.

Both men were charged March 11 by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Tulsa. The charge against Ward is pending.

Heller said he signed prescriptions forwarded to him by Ward for androgenic anabolic steroids - primarily testosterone - to clients of Ward's "anti-aging" business without having conducted any physical examinations or even having any direct contact with the clients.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel-lyn McCormick said the conspiracy featured the distribution of more than 40,000 dosage units to dozens of customers throughout the United States, including in Oklahoma.

Heller - who is free on bond - could be sentenced to 15 to 21 months in prison under federal guidelines, according to Heller's attorney, Keith Ward.

Warning to school boys over illegal anabolic steroids

Roughly one in six schoolboy rugby players are using illegal anabolic steroids, according to a new survey.

The SA Sports Medicine Association issued a warning in response to the survey results and said the use of anabolic steroids is harmful to the health of school boys.

From Eyewitnessnews.co.za:

The association's Dr John Patricious said the illegal use of steroids among school pupils is becoming a dangerous trend.

“It is harmful to the boys’ health and they often do not see the signs because many of the side effects are silent and will only manifest later. These are schedule 5 drugs and it is a criminal offence to use them without a prescription,” said Patricious.

The survey was independently commissioned by several schools and urine samples were sent for analysis in the United States.

Appeals court declines to block suspensions

The Minnesota Court of Appeals recently declined to block the NFL's long-fought suspensions of Vikings defensive linemen Kevin Williams and Pat Williams for taking a banned substance.

The decision leaves the players to decide whether to appeal to the state Supreme Court.

From Startribune.com:

The Appeals Court said that because the diuretic the players took does not fall under the state's workplace drug-testing law, the NFL's failure to follow that law's worker-notification requirements does not give state courts a basis to prevent the league's punishment.

However, the Appeals Court's three-judge panel noted that the NFL is subject to state law when testing players for other, covered drugs, such as anabolic steroids.

"Importantly, our holding is limited to the specific facts of this case and should not be read to excuse the NFL from complying with [state law] when applicable," Judge Francis Connolly wrote.

Kevin and Pat Williams tested positive in July 2008 for bumetanide, which is a powerful diuretic that was an unlisted ingredient in the over-the-counter weight-loss supplement StarCaps.