That Level Playing Field

Last week the so called do gooders in world sport WADA ( World Anti Doping Agency )  held there global conference in of all places, South Africa.

At a time when the spotlight appears to be on the worldwide spreading of doping across many sports I feel like chipping in with my two cents worth on this matter.

Evolution of sport technically, scientifically and spiritually is something we all need to try to get our heads around. It is no longer, and I dont think it ever has been, about one lame cyclist from America who took his opportunity to fraud the world into believing in miracles.

For me there are many other factors in play. I believe it even goes right down to the equipment athletes use across all sports.

For example, golfers these days hit that little white ball into the stratosphere and with incredible accuracy often landing the ball on a saucer. The technology behind golf clubs and golf balls, simply to that used in Formula One,  has made the game of golf almost unreal.

Then there is tennis, tennis players serve faster than the bullet train moves between Tokyo and Osaka. These guys play nearly 48 weeks a year running for hours upon hours day after day, super human efforts, or?

Then we have the man monsters, Rugby Players, nowadays we have players in the back lines who are stronger, faster and taller than most previous forwards ever were.

This is all called evolution. And unless the governing bodies regulate further the standards and equipment that can be used in any one sport, we will never ever see a level playing field.

The question is, do we want to see a level playing field?

Take Motor Racing as another example. Formula One has battled for years to try to create a more level playing field. A playing field where the drivers ability was the thing that made the so called difference between standing on the podium or not.

But Formula One is such a complex beast that the technical ramifications can and are often interrupted in so many different ways. Even when they play tyre wars it doesn't result in a more level playing field for all of the drivers. Just ask those poor guys who are fighting for there careers every weekend in those Caterhams or Marrusia cars at the tail of the pack.

The human body is the most obvious place for us to limit the boundaries of possibility. But over the years this has been a goal way beyond the sports administrators capabilities.

Whoever believes for one second that the professional cyclists of today are morally any better, or different than those of previous decades needs to take a valium. Come on, the situation still hasn't changed.

Why would it?

The races are still as tough, the prizes are still the same, and the rewards, and therefore pressure on the teams hasn't changed.

All that's happened is a few high profile cyclists have died by the sword, many of the instigators of that so called by gone era are still well entrenched in the professional teams running around today.

The facts are, there will always be doping in the world sport as there will be fraudsters, cheaters and liars.

Because some human beings don't have the moralistic capability to live in harmony with reality. That reality is not all men or women are born equal.

Therefore short cuts will continue to be taken. New substances will continue to be manufactured by those same pharmaceutical companies who never want to see a cure for HIV or Cancer because of the money involved.

And while our dear friends and guardian angels at WADA try to survive on an annual budget which is less than that of just ONE Formula One team, yes, less than ONE Formula One team, to try and police the entire worlds ethical playing fields we must look for new solutions to this already global catastrophe.

Recently someone made, what I thought was a somewhat intelligent suggestion to take a small percentage of all of the already massive television revenues and put this toward the funding of the policing of drugs in sport.

As WADA has demonstrated in recent times, it is not just about catching the guy or girl with the needle in their arm, but also being resourced sufficiently to follow the money trail and the logistics operation around the supply of prohibited substances.

The needle in the arm is often the last step in the supply chain, and one must always focus on cutting of the head of the fish first.

I remain optimistic as the next guy that we can in fact improve the current level of administration and policing of sport worldwide. But like a poor relationship, its often what goes on behind closed doors that needs to be addressed not what we see on our HD 3D High tech Television screens.

As we start to countdown to all of those upcoming significant global sporting events being held in South America in the coming years let's see what can be done to improve the current unlevel playing field, starting with what comes out of WADAs very own excursion to South Africa this month.


The World Spins.

Mark.