Source: CCTV.com

11-16-2007 09:06

Special Report:   2008 Olympics Countdown

International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge speaks in New York November 1, 2007.(Reuters)

The International Olympic Committee and the anti-doping watchdog WADA urged governments and international federations on Thursday to do more to comply with an anti-doping code, saying doping was an "epidemic". At the opening of the Third World Conference on Doping in Sport, IOC President Jacques Rogge said that according to recent studies, doping was spreading to teenagers and even pre-teenagers.

Jacques Rogge, IOC President, said, "Doping is one of the most serious threats the Olympic movement has ever seen. It undermines all we stand for."

In this file photo Richard W. Pound (L), President of World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), speak before the WADA Media Symposium at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne January 24, 2007.(Reuters)

The efforts of the World Anti-Doping Agency, which will adopt a revision of its doping code during the three-day conference, have been hampered by a reluctance of governments and several international federations to adopt the code. WADA has warned that some sports could be dropped from future Games if their federations insisted on doing nothing to fight doping.

Dick Pound, WADA Outgoing Chief, said, "We cannot afford to take a leisurely approach, we cannot be satisfied with the status quo -we must continue to attack and with a sense of urgency. The risk of this epidemic is not theoretical -it is a certainty for society at large and it results in an all too horrible human tragedy for some. There are no short cuts, no magic bullets, there are none of the quick fixes that the media love. It will take new and bold thinking."

 

Editor:Yang Jie