It certainly seems a good idea to hand over drug testing to some kind of independent body. There will always be an appearance of conflict of interest in USATF, the IAAF or the IOC having a hand in drug testing. Most of the speculation about suppressed tests, after all, centers around the IOC not wanting to lose money through the scandal of drug positives. However, to give credit where it's due, Andrew Jennings recent book "The Great Olympic Swindle" points out essentially the following: The World Anti-Doping Agency is basically an IOC subsidiary, chaired by IOC Vice President (and presidential aspirant) Dick Pound, who also negotiates the IOC's TV and other commercial contracts. So the Big Question is whether this is really an independent and disinterested body unconcerned about the commercial implications of positive tests of high-profile competitors. It would seem that the IOC or the major federations would need to band together to engage an independent entity, say a Big 5 accounting firm, to run drug testing, with funding from some dedicated source that would insulate it from business pressures. Wake me up when it happens... Marko Velikonja __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Photos - 35mm Quality Prints, Now Get 15 Free! http://photos.yahoo.com/
