On Friday, December 10th, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) announced that Vancouver Doctor and SportMedBC member Dr. Jack Taunton will chair a Task Force on the Use of Performance Enhancing Drugs in Football.
Dr. Taunton has a wealth of experience in the sport medicine field. The former Chief Medical Officer of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Taunton is the ideal person to lead the way, according to CCES President and CEO, Paul Melia.
“Jack Taunton is the perfect person to chair this kind of a task force.
A strong proponent of True Sport, sport that is values based and value creating, Jack has the energy and the conviction to get to the bottom of the issue and work with a talented group to not only find solutions, but implement them.”
After the disappointing doping and trafficking incidents at the University of Waterloo, Dr. Taunton and the CCES are committed to ending drug use in the sport of football.
Taunton said, “This is a very talented and professional group of concerned sport leaders who are determined to rid football of the use of performance enhancing substances.”
In order to have an effective anti-doping program we need to better understand the culture of the sport and then work with stakeholders and the players to understand what will work to shift the culture.
Football is an important part of our Canadian culture – it is played in communities across the country by children and young adults. We want to ensure it is a healthy and safe environment for our children, one where they can be the best they can be without feeling pressured to resort to performance enhancing drug use.”
Our first meeting was charged with energy, insights and a real commitment to finding and implementing solutions that will have a positive effect on the sport of football.”
Also a part of the group is head physician of the CFL’s BC Lions and member of SportMedBC, Dr. Bob McCormack.
More information on the 17-member task force.
– with files from the CCES and the Globe and Mail
