IT WAS somewhat lost amid the palaver of a snap General Election being called, but there was another interesting happening at the House of Commons this week.
On Wednesday, the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee continued its inquiry into “Combating Doping in Sport”.
This is the select committee that has uncovered significant information
in the Team Sky “Jiffy bag” controversy and it was at it again earlier this week when it got some revealing answers from Dr Rob Chakraverty, the England football team doctor who has worked with Mo Farah.
Last year’s “Fancy Bears” data leak had suggested that a lack of proper records for L-carnitine infusions was commonplace for athletes coached by Alberto Salazar.
L-carnitine is an amino acid that helps athletes get lean and improves performance – it is not banned outright but the amount that can be administered to athletes is strictly controlled. Too much and there is an anti-doping rule violation.
The parliamentary committee was looking into the administration of L-carnitine to Mo Farah as he prepared to run his first-ever London Marathon, in 2013.
In the aftermath of the hearing, the details remain somewhat sketchy.
Dr Chakraverty admitted he had administered the substance to
Farah, although he insisted that it was well below the legal limit and
he also conceded that he had failed to log the injections of L-carnitine
on the UK Athletics medical system, but stressed this was an oversight rather than something more sinister.
That Farah should take the substance at all was initially suggested by his long-term coach, Salazar.
The American has been dogged with suspicion over the past few
years with allegations of nefarious behaviour following his every turn.
An investigation by the American anti-doping agency USADA has suggested that Salazar has “almost certainly” broken anti-doping rules in giving high levels of L-carnitine infusions to a number of his athletes and there is also much suspicion about his use of testosterone.
Farah has not been accused of breaching anti-doping regulations.
What is so remarkable about Farah is his seeming inability to gauge how damaging his ongoing connection with Salazar is.
The reputation of the Olympic champion is most certainly being tarnished by his continued-association with Salazar.
Farah is certainly one of the greatest track and field athletes that Britain has ever produced, perhaps the greatest ever.
That he appears oblivious to the damage that is being done to his reputation is astonishing. And, unless he starts acting with more nous, his legacy is likely to be damaged irreparably.
AND ANOTHER THING…
The governing bodies of sport must be applauded for trying to keep up with the times but an announcement earlier this week shows that things are getting out of control.
On Tuesday, the Olympic Council of Asia revealed that e-sports will be included in the official programme for the 2022 Asian Games following its appearance as a demonstration sport at next year’s event. Yes, this is exactly what it sounds like – it’s playing computer games.
Sport must evolve and the decision by the International Olympic Committee last year to invite somewhat “cooler” sports such as surfing, baseball/softball, sport climbing and skateboarding into the Games was welcome as the expanded sport programme is likely to bring the Olympics to a wider audience.
But to consider bringing e-sports into the elite sporting arena is nothing short of ridiculous. What’s next – competitive WhatsApping?
There is no escaping that e-sports is big business; last year, it generated £400 million in revenue and reached a global audience of 320 million people. This year, figures are predicted to rise further.
These stats should not be sniffed at, but for sport to be jumping on the bandwagon is laughable and does serious damage to the credibility of major sporting events.
That the Asian Games, which is considered by many sports on that continent second in importance only to the Olympic Games, is including a discipline which is so clearly not sport is not only farcical, it is also worrying.
Is the stock of major sporting events falling so quickly that the organisers must resort to gimmicks? Only time will tell if e-sports is here to stay as part of the programme in major sporting events. Let’s hope not.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel