WADAwatch

CAS ICAS elects new president: G'day Mate!

2010-11-21T11:54:00.000-08:00

Welcome back to WADAwatch... just one voice discussing the international regulatory agencies whose livelihoods derive from the valiant and strident efforts to reduce and / or eliminate the scurge of doping in Sport.Our hiatus served to refresh the enthusiasm that has always been a bedrock of the WADAwatch credo. As readers can imagine (those whose memories exceed the average American's short span

Where have all the WADAwatchers gone?

2010-04-20T11:00:00.000-07:00

Hello WADAwatchers... We missed you also!In the high country of Colorado, as the spring suns melt the winter snowpack, it recently dawned on our Editorial Panel (of one) that very little 'insidious' information is coming out of the world regime for anti-doping in sport...Has 'WADAworld' gone over the top, into a high and lofty plateau founded on good judgement, rightful pursuit of a balanced

Gripper goes South, Rossi crosses the Alps

2010-03-15T21:34:00.000-07:00

News from the Union Cycliste Internationale acquiring a new head of the Anti-Doping Service has surfaced, with the announced appointment of Francesca Rossi, of Italy, to replace Anne Gripper. Ms Gripper, who joined the UCI in October 2006 with the title of Manager of the UCI Anti-Doping Service, returns to Australia for personal reasons, having overseen the various high- and low-points that

AFLD: "Agence Francaise' Last Days"

2010-02-24T13:30:00.000-08:00

Times are tough... and the notion of attending to the foibles of the anti-doping world take some funny twists sometimes. Yet a recent (within the hour) search of information regarding the Tour de France 2010, came across this stunning article, by Cyclingnews: Huge funding cuts threaten future of AFLD or: WADA perquisition complex (Scroll down to the English version) Au moment qu'on pensait que l'année était terminée, dans le sens d'antidopage, voilà que Pierre Bordry, ses minions et ses alliés policiers-judiciaires remontrent tous leurs acharnements contre l'équipe Astana et l'UCI, juste comme un pit-bull sur le 'visage'

WADAwatch corrections for December

2009-12-19T07:09:00.000-08:00

Friends and readers, In haste to publish, and in receipt of well - intentioned if inaccurate information, WADAwatch published two posts this week that have undergone revisions. In yesterday's post, my laptop suffered from ghostly highlighting-shifting-text syndrome, and it wasn't noticed until a late-night 'proud of myself' review session.Friday, 18 December 2009 WADAwatch: the transition

WADAwatch: the transition begins...

2009-12-18T07:46:00.001-08:00

Dear readers,[This post suffered from 'floating ghosts/mouse/c-n-paste syndrome (perhaps the author should be drug-tested for eggnog abuse?); our apologies]So ends 2009, and we wish you and yours a Happy New Year. To the staff of WADA, we wish better laboratory analyses standardization and Signatory compliance; to the Athletes whose lives lie in the competence and ethics of those analyses, we

WADA concept: good Sciencemanship

2009-12-15T09:18:00.001-08:00

Sportsmanship... a well–respected and rewarded characteristic since oases were shared, and WADA communicates 'playing fair' in its Fundamental Rationale; but where is its good sciencemanship? Remember Christopher Campbell's Dissent to the Landis AAA hearing Award? “Whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with

Another Perspective on 2008 WADA Laboratory Statistics

2009-11-25T07:07:00.002-08:00

When the Honourable John Fahey presided, last November 2008, as Chair of the WADA Executive Committee, his remarks included two important concepts.First, as to the problem or situation of full Signatory 'compliance', that WADA had “... certainly watered down the black and white approach that many believed should have been taken.

Just a tribute to John F Kennedy

2009-11-22T13:02:00.000-08:00

This post is now a simple memorial to John F Kennedy, having served its previous purpose. Sunday, 22 November.In grateful Memory of John Fitzgerald KennedyTo be continued.... "And.... action!"..........@......... WADAWATCHone hundred percent pure copyright 2009 Ww

The Beau-jo (Lab stats) Nouveau est arrivée

2009-11-22T06:59:00.000-08:00

[Edited twice to reformulate our own massive math errors, fromcross-references to 'Olympic' or 'Overall' statistics: we'llaccept any offers of editing on math... and to discuss Footnote 2 Ww]On request from a correspondent, WADAwatch is thinking about 'Atypical Findings', that bear influence in WADA's 2008 Laboratory Statistics

A Belated WADAnniversary present...

2009-11-18T07:21:00.000-08:00

[the text of this blog-post has been edited, with this colour]On November 10, 1999... well, let us quote the 'new' WADA web page itself: The IOC took the initiative and convened the Firts World Conference on Doping in Sport in Lausanne in February 1999.Some four years later, the WADA Code (sometimes known as 'WADC': signed in

Cycling War II: the UCI shows its honour

2009-11-02T03:14:00.000-08:00

The UCI has responded to the AFLD report (a report which has never been published on its web site by the accusing French Agency) with a fact-based series of observations that stimulate the thought, previously expressed here at WADAwatch, that there is an agenda at AFLD.WADAwatch notes an interesting presse communiqué dated 30 October, 2009, from the AFLD web site. It's text was short: FLASH SIDEBAR: French Secretary of State for Sport Rama Yade, announced yesterday (in Amaury Editions' daily newspaper Le Parisien (en français)) that she wanted a 'rapprochement' between the UCI and the AFLD... and that this was 'important'; meanwhile she (as

The 'Phone-y War': updates on AFLD v UCI 2009

2009-10-23T09:04:00.001-07:00

Two new articles appeared nearly simultaneously with our publishing of the three part series Nettoyage Ethique / Ethic Cleansing The first is more amusing than 'damning', and written by a true master of French journalism, Claude Drousset. Former writer for l'Equipe, editor of Vélo Magazine (French monthly cycling mag),

Ethic cleansing / Nettoyage éthique – Part I

2009-10-21T04:42:00.000-07:00

[This is a three-part series regarding the French Anti-Doping Agency AFLD, and the current events it has instigated. Part I offers the escalating situation as viewed by the French Press, Part II reveals information published by AFLD itself, as a report of activities is analysed, and Part III suggests that WADA has sufficient

Nettoyage Éthique / Ethic Cleansing – Part II

2009-10-21T03:20:00.000-07:00

[In Part I of this three-part post, WADAwatch analysed the newest Le Monde article regarding the escalating CWII (Cycling War II) declared by the AFLD against UCI. In this second installment Ww presents AFLD documentation regarding its efforts in the first half of 2009 (especially the Tour de France), to integrate that information with the Le Monde series of articles; Part III discusses the role

Nettoyage Éthique / Ethic Cleansing, Part III

2009-10-21T02:47:00.000-07:00

WADA Hot Lines... [In Part I of this three-part post, WADAwatch analysed the newest Le Monde article regarding the escalating CWII (Cycling War II) declared by the AFLD against UCI. In Part II WADAwatch presented AFLD documentation regarding its efforts in the first half of 2009 (especially the Tour de France), to integrate

Follow up on AFLD v UCI: UCI responds...

2009-10-06T02:06:00.001-07:00

When one writes until 04h00, one may not be privy to the clearest of analyses, regarding a situation stemming from the recent news out of Paris, concerning the recent pair of articles concerning the 2009 Tour de France. Thus we tip our WADAwatch hat to a close-to-the-family 'trans-Alpine' friend, who reminded this author that this news falls suspiciously soon after the UCI announced that

AFLD Steps up a notch...

2009-10-05T17:31:00.000-07:00

When it rains it pours, pour l'AFLD... In relation to the discussion of the report AFLD purportedly sent to WADA and the UCI Monday, we harken back to the reputation 'earned' by various French governmental agents, or agencies, that seem to prefer assessing 'guilt' by the premature publication of 'suspicions' in the French press. It certainly wouldn't be 'courteous', now would it, to afford

UCI methods attacked by AFLD

2009-10-05T04:13:00.000-07:00

A Breaking Story... The French newspaper LeMonde has published an article today (en français), which reports that the French Agency AFLD has transmitted a report to WADA and the UCI, decrying the UCI procedures for testing and sample protection in the Tour de France, singling out their perceived 'protection' for the team Astana, which featured Tour victor Alberto Contador, and American

"WADA" rule from CAS & ICAS

2009-10-04T14:45:00.000-07:00

No need for long and winding legal arguments, today; only the heartfelt desire to congratulate the Court of Arbitration for Sport, for taking a necessary and logical step, perhaps overdue, perhaps not (Institutional 'circulatory systems' being based on their internal, legal requirements), something that was (perhaps) obviously brought to light by the huge increase in cases before its Panels

WADA true story in Black and White...

2009-08-12T05:46:00.000-07:00

As penance for a limited case of 'writers' poetic license' last week, WADAwatch delved into recent documents published on WADA's web site, to refresh our memory on the Agency's progress towards 'compliance' within its family of Signatories. In our previous article, we'd relied (presumptuously) on personal memory from the three—day WADA World Conference in Madrid, in November of 2007. At that

WADA waste... WADA lost cause

2009-08-04T08:08:00.001-07:00

WADAwatch notice of errata and additions: [in the post below, changes have been effected to rectify one major error: the 'presumption' on our part that WADA had not yet begun a significant process of 'Compliance accountability' (see the later paragraphs: one could use 'find' command)... additional text has been added in the color of this notice; we seek readers' indulgence, and apologize to

What WADA needs isn't... Greg LeMond

2009-07-30T06:09:00.000-07:00

Oh that Gregario... ... did Papa LeMond ever read the fable of Peter and the Wolf to his knee—riding son, during his early formative years, long before the future American cycling star-to-be became one? Greg LeMond was a teen hero for many in the USA, and for some of us in Colorado, it was a privilege to see his rise to elite

WADA ya get? Another Eight years and...

2009-07-20T14:14:00.000-07:00

... deeper in Debt. What is WADA: Janus, Gemini or Jekyll and Hyde? While WADAwatch has been known to castigate various World Anti-doping Agency actions that seem to betray its Fundamental Rationale (CODE introduction), we are starting to wonder if WADA has a front face/back face, is twins, or the Evil that comes out of Every good man? Because somewhere in Montreal, someone who wears a hat

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose...

2009-07-14T09:19:00.000-07:00

Continuing our public service utility at WADAwatch sometimes takes powerful help. Thus it comes as no small pleasure, to read last week's Le Canard Enchainé (LCE), our latest source of pertinent information from within the French political theatre. In a small article on the paper's 'tidbits' page (mostly those 'we heard

L'Homme qui entrait de (la douche) froid(e)...

2009-07-03T06:52:00.000-07:00

Excusez-moi de vous écrire en français... chuis un peu 'cowboy' dans la langue de Molière... Mais ce blog-post est destiné seulement aux gentil(e)s lecteurs et lectrices francophones... Avec les nouvelles que Tom Boonen serait autorisé de courir dans ce 96ème Tour de France, c'est une signe que le Chambre arbitrale du sport du comité olympique français, qui a annoncé leur décision jeudi, une

Deux Canards Laqués

2009-06-29T06:55:00.000-07:00

Watching France TV 2 last night, and the interview with Michel Drucker, reminds one that not all of the French people, nor its media icons, are rabid Anti-Lance Armstrong anti-fans... and we'll post more about that later this week... but a sufficient remark would include the pleasure at watching expressions of gratitude for what Lance did for the WORLD of cycling... whose epicenter is the Tour

Surveying les French surveillance societés...

2009-06-11T07:41:00.000-07:00

It is an interesting company: Kargus Consultants, the company that constructed the hacking transaction into the French laboratoire LNDD. A company offering industrial surveillance, according to Societe.com, Kargus Consultants was founded on November 14, 2003: it has been out of business since October 22, 2007, only two weeks short of its fourth 'birthday'. Paying the price of its success?

When is a leash not a noose...?

2009-06-11T04:05:00.000-07:00

Before WADAwatch was born... Our sister–blog crystelZENmud scooped the world two years ago, by publishing an article ( LNDD DEAD: END of an ERA???) regarding the legal reform of the Laboratoire nationale du dépistage du dopage, whose independent status was revised, integrated into the AFLD as their département des analyses.

Biological passports: the hour of Verity?

2009-06-09T07:14:00.000-07:00

A sometime insomniac, this author caught a story on the Swiss TV network in the 'late night, early morning hours', which brought into light the Swiss anti-doping laboratory, its directeur Martial Saugy, and had interesting news from the UCI headquarters: several riders, whose abnormal profiles are suspiciously 'hors-normes', could be facing 'BAD NEWS' in the near future.If you are versed in

Holes in the AFLD-zone...

2009-06-08T05:53:00.000-07:00

This is a “thinking out loud” post, continuing a focus on the French Anti–doping Galaxy's apparent obsession with Floyd Landis. From a weekend of reflection, several salient points rebounded time and again. These are: 1 how (not to forget one big -IF-) did Baker first contact Kargus? How easily could a Doctor in San Diego 'infiltrate' the French corporate–espionage culture, to find a

Le Pierre Ironie: on French Hacking case v Baker

2009-06-05T12:00:00.000-07:00

INTERPOL FLASH ALERT: Wanted: on international arrest warrants issuing from France, two dangerous hacking financiers; Crime: allegedly funded computer hacking/theft of authentic, sub–quality laboratory documents that proved French anti-doping incompet... *some text missing* ... or Alive. Quite ironic, really: ...

AFLD-ermath redux: Lance unleashed....

2009-04-28T06:10:00.000-07:00

(AKA the 'Right to Shower' - inconsistencies) Announcements surfaced Friday evening in France, that Lance Armstrong would not be pursued by French Agency AFLD (Agence française du lutte contre le dopage) for the crime of showering pre-DCO: the effected Controls were negative in every aspect for prohibited products or methods.

Is WADA 'aiding and abetting' Lance?

2009-04-14T09:30:00.000-07:00

The previous WADAwatch post discussed our perception of the AFLD's actions vis-à-vis Lance Armstrong, and the French perception (as usual, coming from leaked confidential information provided to L'Equipe) of his 'violation', regarding a visit, a wait for confirmation, and a shower outside the view of the attending DCO (Doping Control Officer). As of today's date, we are not aware of AFLD having

the AFLD--termath... on Lance's test

2009-04-10T12:16:00.000-07:00

Anyone that devotes any part of their days to, first: cycling, second: anti-doping issues, and third: this blog, should be well aware that AFLD has, once again, thrust itself forcefully, dare we say Bordrilly, onto the anti!doping!scene! ... as world leaders offering to WADA Signatories, worldwide their very own, new meaning of the word: Vindictive (en Français: vindictif) Themselves? Sacrè

WADA... journalistic coup?

2009-02-11T06:18:00.000-08:00

NB: prior to finishing this Post, WADAwatch was reading (again), the brief presented by Floyd Landis in his US Court case, that which was 'settled' before going to court. We had not remembered, in light of our championing of the Quigley Rule, any article mentioning the attorneys who had been

2009 Year of the Reformation...?

2009-01-05T06:58:00.000-08:00

To all the WADAwatch friends...Silence is sometimes a good thing. A means to 'reconstruct' the future, to aid change, to fulfill Rationales, etc.Be ready for the big time, it's upon us, as Lance and Floyd revert to the world we lost, on cycles.Cryptically yours, Ww

WADA sensation in Spain...

2008-11-21T04:50:00.000-08:00

It's too darn bad that the world of WADA, when it was so close to her home, hadn't invited Cristina Pérez to come and speak to the audience.Cristina WHO?(photo credit Stern of Germany)She's the wife of Dr Eufemiano Fuentes, whose unsavoury practices apparently were the Golden Egg for more than Dick Pound, former President of WADA.This next photo comes from an article in El Pais, the Spanish

WADA question: Italian football deaths?

2008-10-14T06:33:00.000-07:00

A startling article (in French) appeared today, in two Swiss papers: Le Matin, and its 'journal gratuite' (free), Le Matin Bleu. The title of the article appearing on the web, is: La sclérose latérale amyotrophique, la maladie mortelle qui décime le calcio Roughly translated as: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the deadly disease that is decimating Italian Soccer ... (known in France as la

WADA words recycled to good use...

2008-10-14T05:59:00.000-07:00

WADAwatch found, and read with some interest, a recent press release issued after another CAS appellate anti–doping decision. Remember the case of the America's Cup crew–member, from the winning Swiss yacht Alinghi? The lower decision regarding Simon Daubney (cocaine metabolites) has now been confirmed through CAS, on appeal from WADA (supported by the IF for yachting: ISAF), and thus the two

Armed–strong v ... AFLD?

2008-10-07T04:24:00.000-07:00

Pierre Bodry is head of the French governmental Agency AFLD, which oversees the French labortoire that carries a globally acknowledged infamy nearly as strong as Floyd Landis or Lance Armstrong, for the case brought against the former, and the insinuated, unsubstantiated claims against the latter. AFLD

Clerc FIRED by ASO : Step one???

2008-10-02T06:54:00.000-07:00

Welcome back my Friends, to the ...What a month to be reborn in!!!A world slithering down a financial black hole, where rumours cost business Billions, in less time than any sportsman's career can be destroyed by innuendo + insinuation... insinuendo?Since last publishing WADAwatch columns, inexorable progress continues on all fronts of the problem, and one of the greatest revelations is that of

Post script on Landis: LNDD off the map?

2008-07-11T09:33:00.000-07:00

Greetings In perusing the cycling news today, grace of VeloNews, an interesting story becomes one of those tantalizing Tidbits that makes 'WADAwatching' fun... who referenced the French leading newspaper Le Monde. Here's the quote from VeloNews: "The blood samples taken from the entire Tour de France

Part THREE: Seven Millions, toward one man's suspension

2008-07-11T05:02:00.000-07:00

OR: SNAFUs at LNDD... Part THREE of Post Landis Stress Syndrome LINKS to Part ONE: Knight, knave, or Don Quixote? Part TWO: All the King's Men and the Emperor's Clothes Landis is now a CAS arbitration case name, marking a turning point in the history of sports litigation, a mark for posterity. Landis

All the King's Men and the Emperor's New Clothes (Part TWO)

2008-07-07T03:54:00.000-07:00

OR: Part TWO: Death of the Quigley Rule... (Analysis and some case notes) In Part ONE of this three–part series, "Post Landis Stress Syndrome" WADAwatch presented its opinion, originally published in the Ww Revised Amicus Brief, that the June 30th CAS Decision declaring Floyd Landis 'positive' confirmed indications of differential treatment amongst the necessarily adversarial

In the World of Anti-Doping: a translated Interview from Switzerland

2008-07-04T03:54:00.000-07:00

From the Swiss TSR TV network and the Swiss TeleTEXT service comes an interview with Martial SAUGY, director of the Swiss Anti – doping Laboratory in Lausanne. This interview is available to over a million (or two if counting the Pays de Gex (Ain) and Haute Savoie French départements) television viewers. For

WADA v World... post Landis stress syndrome?-

2008-07-03T09:21:00.000-07:00

After release Monday of the strongly–worded Landis case appellate decision, published by the Court of Arbitration in Sport, the steadfast Knight in now–stained armour, who lost the world's most expensive, private anti–doping arbitration process since the IOC begat WADA at the start of this decade, has had his

WADA case ... USADA results?

2008-07-01T07:11:00.000-07:00

We now know three things with full certainty, thanks to the legal system(s) in play:1. We know (not?) who killed John F Kennedy;2. We know (not?) who killed Nicole Simpson;and3. We know (not?) who cheated: Floyd Landis** or the French LNDD lab....Legal analysis of this CAS Decision against Floyd Landis, for the benefit of those who care about the 'system' WADA created, should hopefully be posted

Prepare for the Worst... An ASO-FFC renegade Tour de France

2008-06-30T01:00:00.000-07:00

(as we wait today, Monday the Last day of June, 2008,for the imminent publication of the Landis CAS decision,news comes from Trusted sources that a certainWADAwatch piece was included in Arnie Baker's WikiDefense2.0;thank you Dr Baker)How do pro cyclists spell C*O*N*F*U*S*I*O*N??? The cycling world is waiting with bated breath for the depart, this Saturday, of the first modern Tour de France to

WADA and TdF 'epo Test' flushed by Danish study

2008-06-26T07:03:00.000-07:00

A must-read from Bloomberg on announced inconsistencies found in the 'new and improved' EPO test, to be initiated on the guinea-pig riders of next week's Tour de France, and of course in the running of the Beijing Olympics.Sadly, even more than this article, by co-Authors Carsten Lundby (of the Copenhagen Muscle Research Centre), Niels Jacob Achman-Andersen, Jonas Juhl Thomsen, Anne M Norgaard,

Why does France still enjoy WADA's support?

2008-06-10T03:16:00.000-07:00

Only last February, WADAwatch was present at the Third WADA Press Symposium, back in the 'good old Days', when WADA, France and the UCI were crowing about the investments in time and resources, to establish the 'Biological Passport' for cyclists, in yet another effort to prove to the world that the sport of Cycling could emerge victoriously from its image: an image that was born, bredand

Riders! On the Tour...

2008-05-30T03:05:00.000-07:00

Riders on the Tour...Riders on the Tour... Into this house were born; Into this Lab were thrown: Like a dog without a bone; An actor out on loan - Riders on the Tour...(Parody of the Doors: "Riders on the Storm") Riders of the Tour! The Tour de France beckons (unless you are with Astana: then this won't concern you, we are sad to state)... How do you feel, Riders of the Tour de France, about

A comment to Landis Star Decision...

2008-05-29T07:18:00.000-07:00

This brief post is to point, once again, to a valuable comment and link to a serious article that we'll be reading over the weekend...Just the first paragraph makes this a must-read for anyone annoyed or discomfited by the lack of progress in the system WADA 'owns'. Supplement Testing: Who is Watching Out for the Athletes? Most professional athletes wake up every day faced with a dilemma. They

WADA long trip it's been: Landis Star Destiny

2008-05-22T08:54:00.000-07:00

This article is dedicated to the memory of Albert Hofmann, a man whose career had nearly as much impact on our times, distinctly different but, in certain aspects similar, to those impacts of the 'great' names of the Atomic Age: for Albert is the first researching scientist to have discovered LSD. It has been said, amongst friends of WADAwatch, that Hofmann was to the neuron, what Robert

Pistorius to 'run' in Olympics... barring the ???

2008-05-19T03:02:00.001-07:00

With all the attention that WADAwatch is forced to provide, due to an overeager 'prosecutorial' penchant from the World Anti-Doping Agency (aka WADA), in following CAS, in its various rulings, the news from Lausanne, across the lake, is of a different 'colour' today: the colour of black graphite.Oscar Pistorius, he of the nickname 'Bladerunner', due to having excelled at running very very fast,

SEQUEL on supplements...

2008-05-16T02:25:00.000-07:00

We at WADAwatch would like to thank a reader for a comment, of such value, that we are going to make a post out of it, to extend the reach of the audience of 'those who follow WADAwatch'...From yesterday's post, Watch your Supplements Daily... (or just scroll down: there it be!), an informed reader (in the system) wrote: As a coach, I've been forced to self-educate myself on the topic of

Watch your Supplements daily...

2008-05-15T05:24:00.000-07:00

A quick review of some recent news items, that beg for a question to the World Anti-Doping Agency.That question is: "If your mandate calls for cleaning the world of Sport from Doping, whose responsibility is it to police the purveyors of Nutritional Supplements?"And that isn't even THE harsh question, which would be reserved to the purveyors of 'so-called' Athletic Nutritional Supplements:"Dude!

WADA ... Dear John letter

2008-05-13T00:59:00.000-07:00

WADA announced to the world's press that, in pursuit of its much-needed conviction of American cyclist Floyd Landis, it wished that it could seek remuneration by the dethroned 2006 Tour de France winner, for its expenses (of some +/- $1.3 million) contributed towards the CAS appeal costs of USAD.The CAS decision, stemming from Floyd's March hearing in New York, apparently involves the review of

New French Anti-doping Law

2008-05-09T08:25:00.000-07:00

Welcome back to WADAwatch, readers.Since our marathon-writing sessions that ended in mid-April, Ww has been busy on many fronts, supporting friends and partners in related and unrelated endeavours.Efforts to produce the Revised Amicus Brief, which was addressed to the 'Court of Public Opinion' (since we could not get permission to submit it to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)), which

'CRIME AGAINST SPORTSMANITY'

2008-04-24T06:26:00.000-07:00

Or "WADA and LNDD/AFLD v Landis: evolution of the species" In 2006, two different doping cases, with origins in French cycling events, the first in the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, the second at the Tour de France, have brought a bright spotlight into the inconceivable incompetence, now on legal record, concerning the French laboratoire LNDD (and perhaps its 'master', the AFLD): both

WADA Monday: the Landis - Landeluce prelude

2008-04-21T08:03:00.000-07:00

In the research of new topics, involving the ever-pressing question of how a certain laboratoire can function in a system that claims rigorous oversight of its 33 accredited progeny, WADAwatch was slightly bemused, to find in the first 11 results from a Google search on the terms: 'de Ceaurriz directeur LNDD 19' ... Put our sister blog crystelZENmud on the first page of Googleness, and which

WADA CASE in hand...

2008-04-18T06:40:00.000-07:00

A working week has prevented the usual update and decisively incisive commentaries, as we ambled through the world of newly-created pharmaceutical compounds in search of proper TM names... So this is a typical late-Friday afternoon update (for Europe: good morning Utah, California)...NO 'amicus brief' possible, says CASWADAwatch wishes to acknowledge, and does graciously thank Monsier Matthieu

Updated, Corrected: the Marion Jones Teammates issue(s)

2008-04-11T05:52:00.000-07:00

In January of 2008, WADAwatch published a column, "WADA used Gold Medals?" which discussed a then-future, now-realized decision, taken by the Executive Board (EB) of the IOC. That decision concerns the relay-team teammates of Marion Jones, and focused on a news item from the HamptonRoads website, which featured local resident and soon-to-be-stripped Olympic Gold Medal relayer LaTasha

WADA post election "where are they now?"

2008-04-10T09:16:00.000-07:00

Former candidate-until-he-forfeited, and former French Minister of Sport, Jean-François Lamour (almost wrote LeMond: heh heh), made a big REALITY splash this week, as he stridently opined about the violent protests occurring in Paris, at the occasion of the passing of the Olympic Torch procession.But rather than interpret, let's read what the Daily Express announced: "Bizarrely France’s former

FINA first to Adopt New WADA Code

2008-04-09T06:35:00.001-07:00

News comes from the Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA: the International Swimming Federation), that in celebrating its 100th Anniversary as a sporting Federation, that it is the first to adopt the new (and 'improved'?) WADA CODE, as of yesterday, 8 April 2008.The FINA press release also mentions that FINA agreed on a "new set of FINA Medical & Ethical Rules concerning the security and

WADAwatch; notes for the record

2008-04-09T06:06:00.001-07:00

Another week, another small proofreading editing session: interested case followers are invited to return to the fourteen-page post:WADA world, revised AMICUS BRIEFAnd find the few sections that have been refined in this coloured text.For your time-saving pleasure, paragraph 13 had the most changes.Other notes:WADAwatch requested by email, last Wednesday (2 April 2008) from the Secretariat of

POUND LOSES CAS presidency

2008-04-03T05:07:00.000-07:00

Several journals have reported that Dick Pound has lost the CAS presidency.Pound loses bid to become CAS president (Globe and Mail)Auletta beats Pound to CAS role (BBC - who wins BEST HEADLINE PUN(S)) Mino Auletta elected president of Court of Arbitration for Sport (IHT)Congratulating CAS for a rational decision (read Press Release), analysis to follow.............@............WADAwatch© 2008

WADA world, revised AMICUS BRIEF

2008-03-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

{Another week, another 'revision': changes are scant, one can scroll through and find these similarly-coloured sentences}In discussing this case of Floyd Landis, now in the final document admissions phase, prior to the CAS rendering a decision in June, as anticipated, WADAwatch was, as always thinking.Admittedly, this thinking came out after a two-hour 'doping' session (Rioja, a Spanish wine

WADA testing... gone south

2008-03-26T06:41:00.000-07:00

As should be the case, science is coming forward faster, in terms of resolving longitudinal study-issues, such as would be a perfectly reasonable match for inclusion in the WADA / UCI / French Ministry of Sport (& etc) pilot program for 'Athlete's Passports', as was featured in the WADA Press Symposium, offered in Lausanne, at the IOC Museum, late last February.Hot of the internet press, is this

WADA world, WADA case for CAS...

2008-03-25T06:27:00.000-07:00

An amicus brief* to CAS in the Floyd Landis case or “IF I were an aliquot, and you were my Labby...Would you set me down anywhere,Would you treat me shabby...?”(NB: this post is the web-equivalent ofa 14p. document: you are warned!)[this document has been revised in BLUE text] *This writing imagines that one could present to the CAS arbitration Panel hearing the Floyd Landis appeal, an

WADA: CASE, SET and MATCH

2008-03-20T02:33:00.000-07:00

[this is a link-free post... many links are found on the right column]WADAwatch is of the opinion that, whatever basis under which WADA is funneling appellate case funding to the USADA, that basis is not included in the 2003 WADA CODE. It doesn't appear to have any connection to the Fundamental Rationale that begins the WADA CODE. We offer one logical, reasonable voice in an amazingly Byzantine

WADA trial, de novo with a twist: WADA sandbags Landis

2008-03-19T03:21:00.000-07:00

It is Day ONE...FLASH: WADA helping USADA pay for Landis prosecution! A sign of 'neutrality'??? (see below, AND tomorrow)Somewhere in a legal office in Manhattan, men and women will gather in one location, to hear, once again and perhaps for the last time, some five days of testimony, by participants and expert witnesses alike, the facts and theories, the tests and the complaints thereto, of the

WADA: Cast your ballots...

2008-03-13T08:13:00.000-07:00

WADAwatch is musing...Based on our point-blank question that was posited to the president of WADA, John Fahey, last month: "Given the facts [.....], is WADA contemplating any investigation or sanction, to France as a Signatory, for the second litigation it undertook against Floyd Landis after and during the USADA case?"... And in light of the recent fiasco involving, directly or indirectly,

paris NOT nice: part one.

2008-03-11T08:08:00.000-07:00

This article addresses an ongoing situation that has grave impact on the success of WADA's pilot project for the conception of the ATHLETE'S Passport, which was fully outlined at the 3rd WADA Press Symposium, held at the IOC Museum in Lausanne, February 2008. If 'Bias 101' was a first–year journalism class, either in the sense of how to recognize, or how to prevent suh practices, a journal in

WADA - virgin territory

2008-03-06T06:10:00.000-08:00

WADA's Legal Reference pages In responding to a request for research through the legal pages at WADA, and its appellate record, WADAwatch ran a quick tour of the WADA website today, in the strident hope to come up with glimmerings of an answer, or two.A swift survey started, simply enough, with a glance through the WADA website page 'Sitemap' (in EN). NB: That sitemap page has just been installed

WADA LEAP YEAR 2008:

2008-02-29T07:36:00.000-08:00

Fahey's first Tour, and Beijing Is the best thing that's happening to WADA this year, the worst that possibly could happen to it? WADAwatch is not, repeat NOT, referring to WADA's newer, gentler president, nor anyone else. This question is not meant to be confusing, nor will it remain so; WADA is banking on a newly formulated tool to combat the flux of doping: the Athlete's Passport By

WADA show, WADA performance...

2008-02-28T03:02:00.000-08:00

WADAwatch wants to graciously thank the crew from WADA that put together a very informative session for the Press, in Lausanne, on the 27th of February.The range of discussions was across most of the vital issues it is confronting, in the year of a new presidency, a strong reaction to the Tour de France 2007, the Beijing Olympic Summer Games. Readers will surely be scanning the news that came

Half an Epoch Ago: the 2001 Tour de France remembered

2008-02-26T07:28:00.000-08:00

Before there was crystelZENmud, or WADAwatch, this author edited and translated an article from the French - language cycling magazine: VéLO Magazine, which was posted on what is now the Yahoo! group called 'EUROBIKE'... posted in that sad month of September, 2001. Readers of WADAwatch are encouraged to follow this link to the article posted moments ago at crystelZENmud: 2001: a RACE ODYSSEY (

Five Easy Questions for John Fahey

2008-02-22T05:38:00.000-08:00

WADAwatch has certainly made clear its strong endorsement of the former Australian Minister John Fahey, who was openly elected to serve as the second president of the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA).Given that the choice had nearly been between himself, and the petulant, acrimonious Frenchman, Jean-Pierre Lamour (who'd actually withdrawn his candidature nearly simultaneously with the proposal of

WADAwatch Press Award for February

2008-02-19T06:49:00.000-08:00

It's not easy typing green... (apologies to Kermit the Frogstar)Last month was the initial occasion to bestow the WADAwatch award, the...Tipping the Scales of Justice Award (aka "Unimpressed by the Press")This nearly prestigious honour was awarded for the first time, to the working journalist whose words did the most to obfuscate any decent sport-loving reader's search for the truth.That

WADA weekend in Paris... Calendar UPDATES

2008-02-13T05:50:00.001-08:00

A reminder to all WADAwatch readers, that WADA will be conducting a meeting later this month, with its family of accredited laboratory directors, in Paris. The link to the Calendar item regarding this meeting is rather non-specific. WADAwatch notes that an agenda, or the actual location in Paris (at the AFLD département des analyses, perhaps?) is unmentioned for public edification.The meeting is

WADAwatch In Error (Testing v Doping Control)

2008-02-13T04:17:00.000-08:00

On the subject of Floyd Landis' case being adjudicated in France, through a procedure that at best can be described as 'outlaw' (if France purports to be a Signatory in support of WADA), WADAwatch needs to acknowledge a small analytical error.This error does not affect the totality of the post Paths of Glori (-ous French Failure) concerning the AFLD and its unseemly reliance on inapplicable

Redrafting the Athlete's Bill of Rights...

2008-02-12T04:26:00.000-08:00

An updated version of the Athlete's Bill of Rights, which is a WADAwatch world exclusive project, has been put online here: ATHLETE'S BILL OF RIGHTS: v3It reflects previous comments and some generally-needed editorial attention, as well as rendering certain obligations more precisely into text.WADAwatch is encouraged by the dialogue engendered by this publicized campaign to reform and renovate

ATHLETE'S BILL OF RIGHTS: V3 (NOT authorized by WADA )

2008-02-12T04:19:00.000-08:00

This is the third draft (v3) of theoriginal WADAwatch post:ATHLETE'S BILL OF RIGHTS[With accumulated comments, or redraftings,incorporated and shown in this color:acknowledgements follow the Notes] In the profitable world of sponsored professional and amateur sport, it is, ultimately, the Athletes who have invested thousands of hours of training to achieve internationally–recognized levels of

International House of POUND/CAS

2008-02-06T05:57:00.000-08:00

We here at WADAwatch remember the summer of 2007, with explosive sport page headlines regarding doping (again...) at the Tour de France, as certain Big Names - Teams OR riders - (again...) and some domestiques were denounced, unmasked, or...?WADAwatch and the world were anxiously awaiting the results of the 2006 TdF Landis case; we still are. Sometime last summer, or last fall, the first

New WADAwatch PRESS award

2008-02-06T05:27:00.000-08:00

WADAwatch presents an exhilarating new feature! “UnimPRESSed by the Press”WADAwatch will begin to share with readers the worst writing, or facts-in-evidence, that surface in the global English-language coverage concerning WADA (and parfois en français). A simple concept, for which the premier 'recipient' of the first ever WADAwatch award:Tipping the Scales of Justice AWARD May be justifiably

BAFFLED by AFLD: an afterword

2008-02-05T04:27:00.000-08:00

–––Notes on the AFLD-Landis Decision––– One ponders where the most egregious errors lie, in between the mis-drafted WADA CODE Article, and the French Agency's 'Second' sanctions Decision (second to the USADA Decision of September 2007) published by the French Agency AFLD, that were the bases for the previous WADAwatch post: Paths of Glori... (–ous French Failure) ... and the AFLD Decision

WADA and AFLD: Paths of GLORI... (-ous French failure)

2008-01-28T05:23:00.000-08:00

Paths of Glori... (-ous French Failure) “Gentlemen of the Court, there are times when I'm ashamed to be a member of the Human race, and this is one such occasion. "It's impossible for me to summarize the case for the defense, when the Court never allowed me a reasonable opportunityto present my case.” “Are you protesting the authenticity of this court?” Fifty

WADA do about SLOPPY CODEwork?

2008-01-24T07:27:00.000-08:00

"It's a CODE in the nose kind of day..."WADAwatch already expressed its personal gratitude to the Secretariat of the Agence Française de Lutte contre le Dopage (AFLD), for their having signalled WADAwatch that the short, six-page French decision against Floyd Landis is now online.(Décision n° 2007-52 du 29 novembre 2007 )Contrasting this French Decision with that of the Majority's Decision (some

ATHLETE'S BILL OF RIGHTS: V2 (NOT authorized by WADA )

2008-01-24T06:19:00.000-08:00

This is v2 of the original WADAwatch post ATHLETE'S BILL OF RIGHTS [With newly incorporated comments, or redraftings,shown in this color: with acknowledgements after the original content] In the profitable world of sponsored professional and amateur sport, it is, ultimately, the Athletes who have invested thousands of hours of training to achieve internationally–recognized levels of competence.