Trigger
Just (10/22/2013)read following article about a top female German athlete, i.e. Claudia Pechstein, titled “Scharfe Kritik an Sportrecht” (German language).
She sued the International Skating Union as well as the German Skating Association over their two year long suspension from competing.
She also initiated a petition criticizing agreements athletes are required to sign. Under these agreements athletes have abide by out of court judgements by sports organizations. Only by signing these agreements athletes are allowed to compete in prestigious national and international competitions. This petition was signed by a large number of fellow well-known German athletes.
Doping Accusation
Ms. Pechstein was suspended, because the doping police found suspiciously abnormal results in her blood. She claims it is the result of a hereditary ailment.
Strict Liability
The above article also points out that agreements by organizations like NADA (U.S. National Anti-Doping Agency, a prime witch hunter) require strict liability on part of the athletes and German organizations appear to follow in this respect. The above German article wrongly translated this as reversal of burden of proof, but this does not completely miss the point.
Wikipedia explains this term as follows: “A rule specifying strict liability makes a person legally responsible for the damage and loss caused by his or her acts and omissions regardless of culpability (including fault in criminal law terms, typically the presence of mens rea).”
Given the many problems with doping tests it is quite astonishing that they resort to such a drastic legal weapon against athletes. therefore, witch hunt is the right name for it. This reeks of the presumption of guilt.
The Doping Witch Hunt
I have previously written a number of blog posts on this subject and in particular about target no. 1 Lance Armstrong here, here, here, here and here. The last blog post is a more general discussion of the topic.
No comments:
Post a Comment