Cracking Down on Doping
July 5, 2007
The Bundestag also got tough on the drugs themselves by banning the import of medicines such as anabolic steroids, hormone preparations and antiestrogen intended for use in doping offenses.
"We will not solve all the doping problems in sport with this law but we do make a clear statement that we will not surrender," said Federal Minister of the Interior Wolfgang Schäuble.
"We have targeted these substances because their use has made doping highly criminalized," he added. "With the new laws, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) can intervene and surveillance operations can be used to fight these criminal structures."
The law will go before the upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat, on September 21 and could then come into force in October.
The government had come under fire recently for failing to act strongly enough in the battle against doping in sport, with Federal Sports Committee Chairperson Peter Danckert accusing the coalition of lacking the stomach for the fight. After Thursday's announcement, however, Danckert conceded: "We are satisfied that the government has shown support for sport with the law."
The German Olympic Sports Union (DOSB) chief Michael Vesper was also pleased with the decision. "I am glad that this proposal has found such wide approval."
Criminal networks to be targeted by law
Vesper cautioned that the new legal framework must now prove itself but added: "I am optimistic. The Jörg Jaksche case shows that there are networks in sport which allow doping but these structures are now going to be vulnerable to the authorities and courts."
German rider Jaksche became the first rider to admit using blood doping prepared by a Spanish doctor in the "Operation Puerto" scandal. Jaksche told Germany's Spiegel magazine in June that he had used performance-enhancing drugs since 1997, while riding for a number of teams. He told Spiegel that doping was either actively conducted by team leaders or at least tolerated.
The government also pledged to increase its financial support by increasing the budget for organized sport in Germany to 125.8 million euros ($171.5m) by 2008, a huge rise from the current level of 17.3 million. Included in this new budget is an increase in funding for the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) from 1.1 to 3.9 million euros.