Global anti-doping chief admits drugs cheats in sport are escaping detection

One of the most senior figures in global anti-doping has warned that too many drug cheats in sport are evading detection – and criticised the current system as “ineffective”.

David Howman, the former director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) and the chair of the Athletics Integrity Unit, urged anti-doping bodies to be more ambitious in catching elite athletes again rather than focusing on compliance issues.

In what was a clear criticism of Wada’s leadership, Howman also told them that the lack of success in catching cheats was harming the clean sport message.

“Let’s be honest and pragmatic … intentional dopers at elite level are evading detection,” Howman told the Wada’s World Conference on Doping in Sport in South Korea. “We are not effective enough nowadays in catching cheats. We have great education programmes which help but they don’t impact the intentional rule-breakers in elite sport”.

“Our ineffectiveness in dealing with those who are beating the rules is hurting the anti-doping movement’s credibility, with the resulting risk that our clean-sport message falls on deaf ears.”

Ironically the AIU is widely seen as the gold standard when it comes to catching cheats, having sanctioned 427 elite athletes for doping offences since 2017.

However, Howman said the AIU could do more, despite its successes, adding that “it was not catching enough of them and significant improvements are necessary”.

Howman, who spent 13 years as Wada’s director general, also urged the anti-doping community to “move beyond compliance to a system that supports effective, ambitious anti-doping efforts”.

Focusing on compliance-based testing, Howman warned, would not catch what he called the “sophisticated dopers” and he urged Wada to be more proactive in “promoting the pursuit of anti-doping excellence” and for greater transparency on anti-doping data”

“We must all do better to support our clean athletes by catching the dirty ones, especially those at the pinnacle of sport,” he added. “Let’s resolve to strengthen our anti-doping system as we strive for cleaner, fairer and more credible sport.”