Except Saint Dave obvs.
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Still, another âscandalâ about something that was allowed by the WADA code 
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It seems Farah got his reply in early with the interview in the Times having a go at Kara Goucher and Steve Magness for whistle blowing. (couldnât read it all due to the paywall)
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You believe this is another case of public figures being vilified for âcynicalâ behaviour, much like the tax âavoidanceâ schemes? (technically within the law that is).
Having a go at whistleblowers? That sounds vaguely familiar.
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Itâs a scandal about misuse of resources and powerâŚ
In a way, yes. I just find it weird that people expect all sports people to be paragons of virtue, rather than using every legal method at their disposal to gain a competitive edge. In the same way that I find talk of âgrey areasâ a bit weird. All sports are played by an arbitrary set of rules, and if people donât break these rules then fine. I donât see the point in getting antsy about people not abiding by what any other person things the rules should be.
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Devilâs advocate â that is to say I donât approve of an athlete blindly following his coach butâŚ
The athlete has to trust the coach. At world class level they have to expect the coach to do everything possible to exploit the rules to better their performance. They rely on the coach to keep them the right side of the line. Coach says this is fine, athlete takes them at their word. Under strict liability, the athlete is still guilty, but maybe not a wilful transgression.
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I agree with you on the grey areas of the rules, all sports people/teams push that both on and off the pitch all the time and they would be daft not too. We know Salazar went beyond that grey area and doped his athletes, hence his ban. I just donât see Farah as credible and UKA seem complicit.
Exactly. Itâs kind of like the Mercedes dual axis steering thing. The rules didnt preclude it. Mercedes have been innovative and got a competitive advantage. FIA donât like it, so are changing the rules next year.
I get that doping and the like has more of a moralistic approach to it. Before anyone had come up with the idea of blood doping, people must have known that was wrong. But there are still defined grey areas. Naturally occurring substances like amino-acids on which WADA havenât opined.
And then, if WADA says L-carnitine injections are fine, so long as they are under 50ml every 6 hours, then why is there a massive outcry when (at the moment) the claim is that they met those prescribed limits.
For sure, question and probe as to whether they are lying (and Farahâs âoh, I just forgot, but now I rememberâ certainly sounds suspicious), but all the references to the spirit of the rules are laughable. How is doing something specifically defined as permissible breaking the spirit of the rules (assuming they didnât breach the quantity/frequency limits)? Itâs the complete opposite, and following the rules precisely.
Donât get me started on that. Itâs written into law that minimising your tax burden is not only logical and acceptable (when done in accordance with the legislation), but itâs also a knock-on requirement of the Companies Act. (I know you were saying exactly that Jorgan with the bit in brackets, but itâs just an area where people blindly criticise high wealth individuals and corporates, without having a clue about what they are moaning about - and it annoys me)
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this implies that the athlete is unable or unwilling to take any responsibility hereâŚ
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I think itâs saying that you put that trust into the Coach. I was listening to the latest Brick Session podcast last night, and that was all about coach-athlete relationships. One key thing Mark and Heather were talking about was âbuying into your coaches philosophyâ and âtrusting them with your trainingâ.
All Buzz was saying is that itâs quite understandable that would extend to nutrition, supplements, and those kind of things.
Yes, ultimately every athlete is responsible and accountable for what goes in their system. But a huge proportion of them will sub-contract that assessment to their wider team so they can focus on the training and recovery.
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Because, iirc, the doctor didnât write it down and no one could rememberâŚalthough they now remember the dosage exactlyâŚ
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it certainly would appear that Mo did thatâŚ
Precisely. Avoidance and Evasion are different, in accordance with the law.
Exactly. So by all means say they broke the rules and are lying. Donât say âusing L-carnitine injections breaches the spirit of the rulesâ. The argument is diluted by conflating the two points.
Which rule and why?
What Iâm getting at here is that there is no need for this to sound dodgy, but it does. Why do this in a hotel, send someone to a foreign country to pick it up personally, and so on, then forget to record it?
Using the tax evasion/avoidance comparison, I could meet my client in a hotel off the M25, receive payment in my bedroom in used fivers in a brown paper bag, then forget to include it on my VAT returnâŚor I could just get the money transferred into my bank account - nobody can forget anything.
Maybe hotel rooms are more normal for international athletes to receive infusions than is my expectationâŚWhy not do it in legitimate training or medical facilities? Why not get your drugs delivered by UPS? I.e. why not do it in a way that forgetting is virtually impossible?
Iâm not saying any of this makes them guilty, but if youâre an athlete with your whole and future career on the lineâŚjust do it properly.
Looking forward to this. Only Saturday I had to re validate my UKAD advisor test (@explorerJC probably also keeps this up to date) and one key thing is that for something to be banned needs to meet 2 of 3 criteria. proven or potentially performance enhancing, danger to health, against the spirit of fair sport. If in my opinion something looked like it would meet that and wasnât on WADAâs list Iâd say its a grey area and not to take it, ie L-carnitine injections. Also why hasnât WADA introduced a no needles policy like the UCI brought in to stop half of this crap.
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Completely agree with most of your statement, but on the above, from everything Iâve read, L-Carnitine injections below 50ml every 6 hours is not a grey area. Itâs explicitly allowed?
Lots of sports people wouldnât play as often is probably why. Itâs not uncommon in football and rugby for people to have pain meds injected so they can play. Iâm not saying itâs right but itâs there and the governing bodies would put up a huge process (ÂŁÂŁÂŁÂŁ). I suspect itâs true in other sports too.
With regard to L-Carnitine, Salazar has been found to give way above the permitted limit and that is part of why he has been banned.
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