German
lawmakers have passed a law against doping, providing for jail terms for
offending athletes. This came as the IAAF was set to decide whether to take
action against the Russian federation over doping allegations.
Deutsche Welle, 13 Nov 2015
Chancellor
Angela Merkel's grand coalition government used its large majority in the lower
house, the Bundestag, to easily pass the law, which Justice Minister Heiko Maas
described as "a declaration of war on cheaters."
Under the
legislation, athletes found guilty of doping could face fines or prison terms
of up to three years. Those involved in supplying athletes with
performance-enhancing substances could face jail terms of up to 10 years.
Maas said
the legislation, which was jointly drafted by the justice, interior and health
ministries, would make German sports "cleaner, safer and more
honest."
"This
is a historic day in sports politics. Doping will become a case for the
prosecutor's office," Maas said in a speech to the Bundestag. "In
view of the current situation in Russia, the problem doesn't seem to be getting
smaller, but seems to be growing," he said, referring to a damning report
released by an independent commission appointed by the World Anti-Doping Agency
(WADA) earlier this week.
Interior
Minister Thomas de Maiziere, whose ministry is responsible for sports, said the
law was meant "to deter and to help uncover criminal doping structures."
The German
Olympic Sports Federation (DOSB) said it supported the legislation in
principle, but also expressed concerns that it could undermine the efforts of
sporting authorities to combat the problem. Speaking to SWR public radio, Maas
rejected this, arguing that sports authorities alone had proven not to be a
strong enough deterrent.
The bill
still has to be passed by the Bundesrat, the upper house, before it can come
into force; however, this is regarded as a formality.
IAAF
conference call on Russia
Meanwhile,
elected members of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) were to hold a conference call later on Friday to discuss whether to
suspend the Russian federation over allegations of state-sponsored doping of
its athletes. The allegations came from the report released by the independent WADA commission on Monday.
pfd/es (SID, dpa)
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