Coe warns athletics is on brink

Drugs in Sport: Athletics is in danger of being destroyed by drugs cheats, Britain's double Olympic middle-distance champion Sebastian Coe said in Melbourne yesterday. He said the sport was reeling from a series of high-profile doping busts and would struggle to cope with any more scandals.

"We cannot have another five years like the one we've just been through, because I'm not sure the sport would survive that," he said.

Coe won the 1,500 metres titles at the 1980 and 1984 Olympics and is now vice-president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and chairman of the organising committee for the London 2012 Games.

Athletics has been rocked by a series of doping scandals in recent years, including the jailing of former Olympic champion Marion Jones for lying about steroid use to a US grand jury.

Coe said the scandals had damaged the sport's credibility and it was important to ensure measures were taken to catch cheats before they won medals.

"It is the big issue and we've got to make sure that we've got systems in place that detect and that we have penalties that are proportionate to the damage that is being done to our sport," he said.

Coe fears athletics fans will abandon the sport unless those leading the fight against drugs in the sport "turn it around".

"We could end up with a situation like WWE wrestling where everyone knows it is fake and they don't care. Frankly, they don't care that what they are watching isn't real.

"But while people still care, we have to hope we can turn it around, otherwise people will vote with their feet."

Coe has called for drugs cheats to be handed a minimum four-year ban from the sport.

"If you are a parent, you have the thoughts and considerations of your children at heart, and the thought a child is entering a sport that is cavalier about performance-enhancing drugs will see people voting with their feet and finding a sport they are comfortable with. We must not be in that position.

"I want to have the standard (ban) at four, because I don't think two is enough. I don't think it's a big enough deterrent.

"It needs to be proportionate to the damage being done to the sport, because every athlete who competes at the highest level knows it is cheating.

"Frankly, I believe when athletes make a conscious decision to do that, they forfeit their rights in most ways."

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times