Baseball to launch drug-testing program in Dominican Republic
Saturday, May 1, 2004
NEW YORK, USA (AFP): Major League Baseball
took a step, albeit a tangential one, toward curing its alleged steroid
epidemic Friday, implementing a drug-testing program in the Dominican Summer
League. The news came in response to reports
of steroid abuse by players in the Dominican Republic. All players are subject
to testing when the 72-game schedule, which is sanctioned by Major League
Baseball, begins June 1. "To achieve our goal
of zero tolerance of performance-enhancing substances and drugs of abuse, it
is important to prevent the use of these substances in the earliest stages of
a player's career," baseball commissioner Bud Selig said.
A dark cloud has hovered over the national pastime since reports surfaced that
BALCO - the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative - supplied MLB stars Barry Bonds,
Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield, among other professional athletes, with
steroids. The players have denied the
allegations, but four men have been indicted for illegal steroid distribution
in the BALCO case. As a result of a case that
has been debated in Congress, Major League Baseball has a testing agreement
with the Players Association for the first time since 1985. In the program,
each player was given two announced tests for illegal steroids as part of a
survey. The mandatory program kicked in this
spring when survey testing surpassed the threshold of 5 percent positive
results stipulated in the agreement. All players are subject to two
unannounced tests this season. Despite
implementing the tests, baseball has been criticized for rather lenient
punishments. A fifth positive sample, for example, results in a one-year
suspension or a fine up to 100,000 dollars.
On Monday, baseball took a step in the right direction when it agreed with the
Players Association and International Baseball Federation on drug-testing
parameters for a baseball World Cup. With an
eye on an international competition taking place as early as next March, Selig
pushed for and got more stringent requirements "consistent with the Olympic
movement."
Back...
Most popular
articles: viewed, printed and e-mailed
Printable
version
| 
