Anti-doping expert quits cycling project
Source: Agencies |
April 5, 2012, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A LEADING anti-doping expert has quit cycling's biological passport project because of attempts to stop him from speaking publicly about drugs in sport.
Australian scientist Michael Ashenden said yesterday that since the World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited laboratory in Lausanne, Switzerland, took over the management of cycling's anti-doping efforts, new confidentiality clauses had been put in place that he found "unreasonable."
Ashenden was quoted by the BBC as saying he was effectively being silenced by the lab.
"Lausanne is imposing its own 'Omerta,'" Ashenden was quoted as saying, using the term meaning a mafia code of silence. "There should be nothing to hide, so why stop the experts from talking?"
Outspoken
Ashenden has been involved in the biological passport since the International Cycling Union launched the project in 2008. He has been an outspoken member of an expert panel that analyzes cyclists' blood values for potential signs of doping, and whose advice helps the UCI decide which riders to prosecute.
"When Lausanne convened the panel of experts, they approached the same group of experts who have been looking after cycling for the last three years, but they inserted into their contract a clause which said we aren't allowed to discuss anything about our role on the panel now, or even for eight years after we cease being on the panel," Ashenden said. "I refused to sign that contract, which means I can't be on the APMU (Athlete Passport Management Unit) at Lausanne, and because they're looking after cycling, it means I can no longer serve as an expert reviewing cycling profiles."
Australian scientist Michael Ashenden said yesterday that since the World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited laboratory in Lausanne, Switzerland, took over the management of cycling's anti-doping efforts, new confidentiality clauses had been put in place that he found "unreasonable."
Ashenden was quoted by the BBC as saying he was effectively being silenced by the lab.
"Lausanne is imposing its own 'Omerta,'" Ashenden was quoted as saying, using the term meaning a mafia code of silence. "There should be nothing to hide, so why stop the experts from talking?"
Outspoken
Ashenden has been involved in the biological passport since the International Cycling Union launched the project in 2008. He has been an outspoken member of an expert panel that analyzes cyclists' blood values for potential signs of doping, and whose advice helps the UCI decide which riders to prosecute.
"When Lausanne convened the panel of experts, they approached the same group of experts who have been looking after cycling for the last three years, but they inserted into their contract a clause which said we aren't allowed to discuss anything about our role on the panel now, or even for eight years after we cease being on the panel," Ashenden said. "I refused to sign that contract, which means I can't be on the APMU (Athlete Passport Management Unit) at Lausanne, and because they're looking after cycling, it means I can no longer serve as an expert reviewing cycling profiles."
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