Little news of doping no sign that local athletes are clean

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The few high-profile cases of doping in local sports in recent years seem to have been forgotten once the blaring headlines die down.

Although the sports scene may appear clean, experts say the lack of reported cases is no guarantee that athletes are not seeking a little chemical assistance.

Doping tests remain limited to major competitions, with no internationally accredited laboratory here or random out-of- competition testing, the monitoring that has caught out many cheating athletes. Olympic gold medalist Brigitte McMahon announced her retirement on Monday after testing positive in a test at home, with the Swiss triathlete admitting she took EPO.

Regional development director for the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) Ria Lumintoarso said the Athletics Association of Indonesia (PASI) was the lone sports organization with a demonstrated commitment to conducting doping tests.

"We've never had a commitment from other associations to conduct doping tests although some of them, like the Soccer Association of Indonesia and the Basketball Association of Indonesia, hold continuous tournaments in one year," he said on the sidelines of a two-day antidoping and sport medicine seminar here on Monday.

"In the absence of (regular) doping tests, of course there will be no doping cases here, and on the other hand, it leaves wide open the possibility for athletes to use drugs."

Athletes could stop using the substances a few weeks before a national competition or when they compete overseas to pass a drug test.

Several local athletes, from sports as diverse as badminton, weightlifting, soccer, cycling and swimming, have tested positive for drugs. Some of the most prominent were former badminton world champion Sigit Budiarto, who tested positive for the steroid nandrolone and received a temporary ban, and swimmer Catherine Surya.

Catherine, who held five national records in the early 1990s, tested positive for steroids at the 1993 National Games, where she won seven gold medals. At 13, she was the youngest athlete ever to be banned for using illegal performance-enhancing substances.

Testing facilities lag behind other countries in the region. Malaysia and Thailand have internationally accredited drug- testing laboratories in Penang and Bangkok, but this country's one facility in Jakarta only meets national standards.

Ria said there was the possibility that some athletes unknowingly took banned substances. Minarti Timur, a badminton player banned for 18 months for taking an illegal stimulant, insisted she had only taken medicine to treat flu.

"However, some athletes deliberately use narcotics, which of course also contain doping substances," he said.

Although use of illegal performance-enhancing substances can lead to short-term gains, there are bound to be long-term side effects, from the risk of heart attacks, abnormally aggressive behavior to development of male secondary characteristics in women who take steroids.

Ria said the medical community here also lacked knowledge about doping substances or those substances that were cleared for use.

"That is why we are holding a seminar that features relevant experts from the IAAF," he said of the event, with 12 countries, including Malaysia, Singapore, India and Pakistan, represented

IAAF Medical and Antidoping Department director Dolle Gabriel said he had the same impression as Ria of the lack of knowledge about doping issues among athletes and sports administrators.

"It is my duty to inform about updates in doping substances to developing countries," he said.