Next Tuesday August 10th, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES), Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) and the Canadian Football League (CFL) will join forces and hold a media event to announce a series of “robust anti-doping measures” that will affect university football players across the country.
The new measures come after a dirty drug scandal which rocked the University of Waterloo (Ontario) last March.
A police investigation uncovered a suspected trafficking ring inside the Waterloo Warriors’ locker room. The university then ordered drug testing for its entire 62-man roster.
Nine players were found to be using banned substances. Two of the nine were later charged by police with possession and trafficking performance-enhancing drugs.
The CIS suspended each player for one to two years. Meanwhile in mid-June, the school announced it was suspending the football program’s 2010 season while an internal review would take place.
The CCES will also release the latest results and sanctions of some unannounced doping tests conducted on football players from universities across Canada.
The tests took place after the investigation at Waterloo.
With all the negative press from the steroid scandal, it appears to have forced some changes throughout the CIS and CCES. Over the years, drug testing for Canadian university football players has seen a major decline. Back in 1993, 391 players were asked to provide samples. Fast forward to 2009, and only 89 CIS football players were tested.
Representatives from the CFL will also be in attendance on Tuesday. The league recently announced that it will begin testing players for performance-enhancing drugs in 2011.
Both blood and urine tests will be conducted by the CCES under the new policy. With each infraction comes a more severe suspension. A third infraction equals a one-year suspension, while a fourth offence means a lifetime ban.
SportMedBC will be checking out Tuesday’s conference. We’ll have an update for you then.
Photo: Canadian Press
-with files from the Canadian Press
