Wish longer period of ineligibility

Based on the recent revelations of Russian cross-country skiers testing positive, the discussion on the length of a sanction has been a hot topic in Norway lately.

The Norwegian Athletes Committee had this matter on the agenda during its last meeting. This is what the committee’s leader, Anne Margrethe Hausken, says:

- Earlier, a two-year ban was enough for an athlete to decide to finish his/her carrier. Today, we see more and more athletes make a comeback. It is relatively easy for athletes banned for 2 years to get to the top again once they are back. Especially in individual sport, it is not a problem to be banned from organised training for a period of time. In addition, the use of certain substances can still have a lot of effect a long time after the ineligibility period has begun.   

Anti-Doping Norway supports the Norwegian athletes’ committee in this matter:

- We shall work towards a 4 years ban for a first anti-doping rule violation and lifetime ban for a second anti-doping rule violation. This concerns substances that are not referred to as specified substances subject to a reduction of the period of ineligibility, says Petter Riiser in Anti-Doping Norway.