The nation's first anti-doping agency was set up yesterday to
ensure a clean 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
"We want to show the world our resolve to fight doping," said
Duan Shijie, deputy director of the State General Administration of
Sports (SGAS), the governing body of all sports in China.
"The agency is a significant development in China's anti-doping
program. It will make our work independent, authoritative and
professional," he added.
The China Anti-Doping Agency (CADA) - at the National Olympic
Sports Center - has 60 staff, from the Research Institute for Sport
Medicine, the SGAS and the Chinese Olympic Committee Anti-Doping
Commission.
CADA will act as a testing site during the Games and will
coordinate a current campaign against illegal factories that make
steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs.
Duan said rapid progress has been made in anti-doping efforts
during the past 20 years; and the agency now meets international
standards.
In the latest major drug case in the country, top triathlete
Wang Hongni was last month banned for two years by the
International Triathlon Union (ITU) after testing positive for
exogenous metabolites of testosterone during an out-of-competition
drug test on August 24.
Wang is the second high-profile Chinese athlete to be banned for
doping since the 2004 Athens Games - long-distance runner Sun
Yingjie tested positive at the Chinese National Games in 2005.
To make the Beijing Games a "Clean Olympics", 9,424 athletes
were tested last year and another 10,000 are expected to be tested
this year. The number of doping tests at the Beijing Games will
increase to 4,500, up from 3,700 in Athens.
Duan added that the establishment of CADA will "help build a
professional team to concentrate on anti-doping work in the long
run".
The country's first anti-doping program was launched in the
1980s.
In 1992, the Chinese Anti-Doping Commission was established.
Three years later, the Standing Committee of the National People's
Congress (NPC) passed the Sport Law of China, which
stipulates that "prohibited substances, and methods are banned in
all sports".
The campaign got a fillip on March 1, 2004 when the Anti-Doping
Regulation of China, issued by the State Council, came into
force.
It tightens control on banned drugs and prescribes criminal
penalties to serious offenders.
(China Daily November 13, 2007)