Germany to make doping a crime

Only days after asking for his de-nomination from the IAAF World Athlete of the Year shortlist because he didn’t want to be named alongside twice banned drugs cheat Justin Gatlin, Robert Harting got a nice birthday surprise – a 6am wake-up call from a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) tester.

Those of you who know our sport will know there’s nothing unusual about an early morning drugs test, but had the Olympic and three-time world champion tested positive under a newly proposed law, he could have ended up in prison.

Today, German ministers submitted a draft for a new anti-doping law, which could see German athletes face legal prosecution and even prison sentences, if caught doping.

I’ve only seen detailed descriptions of Germany’s proposed anti-doping law in German, so here’s a summary in English: pic.twitter.com/JQlzyu3vn0

— Michelle Sammet (@michellesammet) November 12, 2014

‘Why?’ you may ask. Well, it’s not like Germany – or at least the GDR – doesn’t have a doping history, and I write this being German myself. But almost 25 years to the day after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and only five years after Germany’s Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière refused, even after numerous doping scandals involving German sportsmen and women, to draft an anti-doping law, it finally clicked.

So here are some answers to your ‘Why?’

1. Because the existing rules to combat doping compared to how doping has evolved are not effective enough anymore. Cheaters are always one step ahead of testers, and unless consequences for doping offences don’t change drastically, dopers are almost encouraged to try and beat the system, knowing they will get away with a slap on the wrist.
2. Because the government wants to protect the health of athletes. Yes, I will mention the GDR again, but only because the introduction of an anti-doping law would prove that we have learnt from the mistakes of a regime that force-fed its athletes all kinds of illegal substances and who now have to – if they’re even still alive – live with the consequences of years of systematic drug abuse.
3. Because the integrity of sport is paramount. German sporting results of the past are always talked about in an undertone of cynicism – and rightly so. But truth be told, the majority of professional sportsmen and women nowadays are clean and something a nation should be proud of.

Now that we’ve cleared that up, here’s what the proposed law is planning to achieve: So far only those distributing drugs could be prosecuted, while athletes using banned substances couldn’t – see what I meant by slap on the wrist?

Under the proposed changes, whoever (and this refers to athletes) tests positive or is in possession of a forbidden substance, risks heavy fines and up to three years imprisonment. The idea is to apply the often debated ‘full possession offence’ rule. Even someone who ‘only’ possesses a very small amount of doping agents (in order to improve his or her performance) would be liable to prosecution, meaning regular German courts could send dopers behind bars. Scary, isn’t it?

And that’s exactly the idea behind the law: scare athletes away from doping. Of course the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) can’t go and walk around every little gym testing wannabe-bodybuilders for steroids and god knows what else the kids take these days, but it’s about those who – although in many cases very little to nothing – earn money from their sport rather than the recreational athlete.

The law targets the elite, athletes who compete in official national and international competitions and those who are on the NADA test list. In Germany this concerns an estimated 7,000 athletes, but here’s a twist: foreign athletes can be prosecuted, too, should they be caught with banned substances at events held in Germany.

Many German athletes have been calling for an overhaul in the system for years and are welcoming the proposed changes with open arms. As European relay silver medallist and 100m national record holder Julian Reus tweeted this morning: “Doping is fraud and should, just like any other criminal offence, be punished with prison sentences.

“The current punishments aren’t effective. There are neither economic nor moral consequences. The only alternative is legal action.

“Testing alone doesn’t work as a deterrent! The possibility of a prison sentence could change that!”

And it’s not just dopers who will have to hold their breath should the law come into force, which is expected to happen as early as the beginning of 2015. No, those who trade banned substances as well as doctors who administer them could face fines and imprisonment – in severe cases even up to ten years.

Now, imagine Germany had more high-profile meets like the ISTAF, it could make an interesting game trying to guess which international athlete turned down a meet-invite, because they were scared of prosecution, don’t you think?