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Realist Rogge says war against drugs can never be totally won
BERLIN (AP) -- The IOC's new president pushed Thursday for higher spending and more cross-border coordination to fight drugs in sports, but conceded that "we will never win the war totally" against doping. "The credibility of sport is really in danger because of doping," Jacques Rogge told Deutsche Welle television. "We will never win the war totally but we have to reduce the level of doping." Rogge was elected Monday as successor to Juan Antonio Samaranch, who ran the International Olympic Committee for 21 years. Rogge called for more international action under the auspices of the World Anti-Doping Agency, set up in 1999 to coordinate the global campaign against drugs in sports. "There is pressure on the athletes because of financial rewards," Rogge said. "There is pressure by coaches and trainers and doctors who provide the drugs. There is the difficult issue of some drugs that cannot be tested today, and there is of course the future of genetic engineering that creates a potential trap." But the Belgian insisted that "we can reduce the evil to a far lower level by working harder, spending more money, working closer with the governments within the World Anti-Doping Agency, and being totally committed to the fight." Rogge stressed the need for standard international measures in that battle. "We need to have one single procedure for testing, we need to have one single procedure for sanctioning, and we need to have everyone working at the same speed, with the same intensity toward the fight against doping," he said.
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