Drug Ban Looks More Like A Bocce Botch-up

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday February 19, 2005

Jacquelin Magnay

In one of the most bizarre drug testing cases in Australia, two elderly Victorian bocce players face two-year bans from the sport after testing positive to banned drugs they took for their heart conditions.

But the bocce players, one an Italian immigrant in his 60s who speaks limited English and a slightly younger woman, were both taking medically prescribed beta-blockers as part of their heart medications when they gave their urine samples during the Australian championships in Adelaide, just before the Athens Olympics.

It is understood the man is particularly distressed at the test results and there are serious fears for his health.

The court of arbitration for sport is hearing the cases and determining whether the players will be banned from the sport.

But Victorian bocce enthusiasts, largely of Italian descent and over 50, have rallied around the players, and some colleagues are outraged.

One player who did not want to be named complained the drug testers were "over the top" and "destroying the two peoples' lives".

"As if these two people playing a sport they enjoy are seeking to cheat. They are taking the drugs to simply live," he said.

An Australian Sports Drug Agency spokesman, Sean Winnett, said he could not confirm any current investigations until the agency's quarterly results were released next week. He said the agency had conducted seven tests in the sport of bocce in the past financial year.

"The sport receives government funding and has an anti-doping policy, so that is why bocce players are tested," he said. "No one is doubting that bocce is a lower-risk sport than some others going around, but you can see that by the fact they receive low levels of testing."

The bocce incident has exposed an educational weakness in the system.

Usually, athletes who are taking prescribed medications can seek therapeutic-use exemptions from the drug agency beforehand. In both of these cases, the exemptions had not been sought.

Under its charter, the agency has the legislative power to test 104 sports, including fringe activities such as ultralight aircraft, ballooning, flying disc, fishing, rock climbing, tug-of-war and vigoro.

© 2005 Sydney Morning Herald

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