In a year marked by the Olympic Games, the third 2024 Credibility Figures report reviews the efforts made to fight doping around the world. The question of the means also prompts the MPCC to look at the state of play at Continental level.
The memories of the XXXII Olympiad Games (Olympic and Paralympic) are certainly still vivid across the world, one month after they came to a close. From the intense images of the ceremonies to the individual and collective feats and the self-sacrifice shown by the paralympic athletes, symbolising a message of hope in these troubled times, the Olympics were a reminder that sport spreads great and beautiful values that are universally recognised and shared.
Many of these values are promoted by the MPCC, a committed movement and the main player in the fight against doping in cycling, for the fairness of competitions and the riders’ physical and mental health. It points out that top-level sport cannot dispense with the need to roll out substantial resources to combat doping. At the last Olympic Games, some 6,000 samples were collected from 4,150 athletes, around 40% of the total entrants. Only six ADRV (anti-doping rule violations) emerged from these tests, which quickly led to provisional suspensions. While this number may seem derisory, the investigators and staff at the analysis laboratories still have thousands of cases to deal with, and it is likely that others will come to light in the coming months.
In addition to the work of the control officers, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) set up two temporary offices in the French capital during the Olympic Games. One of these was dedicated to dealing quickly with proven cases of doping. It’s a proof that with a strong political will, substantial resources and uncompromising stance with doping, cheating can be contained. Nevertheless, the 2024 year has been marked by a number of incidents : the Chinese swimmers case, whose positive tests in 2021 were allegedly covered up by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA); the political reaction of the United States, which launched a federal investigation into the affair; and the suspension of some national anti-doping agencies, as the countries concerned struggled to bring their legislation into line with the World Code.
RAISING QUESTIONS ABOUT JANNIK SINNER
The last few weeks have been marked above all by the announcement of the positive test of one of the leading stars of tennis, Jannik Sinner, world No. 1 and winner of two Grand Slam tournaments. The Italian, who tested positive for Clostebol (an anabolic steroid) in March, pleaded contamination by a spray and finally convinced the ITIA, the body governing integrity in tennis, and an independent tribunal of his good faith. While the case caused quite a stir on courts around the world, WADA was quick to respond by lodging an appeal with CAS on 26 September.
Finally, the tense situation on the anti-doping front could not be illustrated without the major change underway on a political side. The MPCC had already reported on the very specific situation of Kenya, which has taken a proactive stance in the fight against doping after narrowly avoiding bans from several international competitions. In 2016, the country set up a national agency, the ADAK, and since 2013 has had a strict legislative arsenal. While it could count on a substantial budget of around $5 million in 2022, its future is now on hold, according to its president. The agency is said to have received just around $150,000 for the 2024-2025 financial year, making it virtually impossible to fulfil its mission: pay its staff, control athletes, take samples, whose shipping costs are considered extortionate, and send them to accredited laboratories. At the time of writing, the head of WADA’s Africa regional office had just met the local Secretary for Sport Affairs to discuss this highly sensitive and important issue for the future of Kenyan sport.
THE BIOLOGICAL PASSPORT IN ACTION
With these Credibility Figures, the MPCC’s main aim is to put into perspective the position of cycling, once considered the poor relative in the fight against doping, compared with other sports. It is only the tenth most affected sport after the first nine months of the year, according to the cases revealed by the press and the national anti-doping agencies, far behind athletics (140 cases reported worldwide), rugby (23) and MMA (20), where the trend is upwards. As of 30 September, 15 doping cases in cycling from various disciplines (road, BMX, track, para-cycling) had been made public. This figure remains in line with the recent trend of around twenty cases reported each year, and is consistent with the finding made in our first report on current suspensions among professionals.
PROTECTING THE CONTINENTAL TEAMS
Last news have also made connections with our publications, as two Portuguese riders competing at Continental level have been caught out by their biological passports, the result of a more repressive move by the Portuguese Federation and the Adop (Portugal’s anti-doping authority) to extend this monitoring to all national riders competing at world’s third level, i.e. around 80 riders representing 9 teams in 2024. This case serves as a reminder of the importance of being proactive in the fight against cheating, which requires ever greater financial resources for national agencies and anti-doping laboratories, a spirit of cooperation between the various players in sport, whether institutional or political, and a sense of responsibility on the part of the primary protagonists : the athletes themselves.
The MPCC therefore renews its appeal to all the men’s and women’s World Tour teams who are not yet members to join us in the fight against doping, as the credibility of our sport needs to be strengthened by greater participation from all stakeholders. We encourage Continental teams to become even more involved, despite their lesser media exposure and the challenges they face across the different continental calendars. A much larger number of teams in the world’s third tier would help bring certain issues to the fore and keep riders and managers away from the temptation of doping. The battle against it will be won by remaining active.