Blatter: No going back on anti-doping deal
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-08-11 06:14

Sepp Blatter has insisted that FIFA's agreement with the World Anti-Doping Agency is a done deal, despite WADA's claim that soccer's governing body cannot have its own conditions.

FIFA's president publicly agreed to sign up to the anti-doping code in an announcement at their Centenary Congress in May, with WADA head Dick Pound and International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge in attendance.

Soccer was the last major sport to sign up but it emerged that FIFA's agreement was subject to various exceptions - something WADA insist is not allowed.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter speaks during a news conference in Athens, August 9, 2004. Blatter said on Monday that Ivan Slavkov will remain the president of the Bulgarian Football Association despite being suspended as the head of the country's Olympic committee. [Reuters]

Since the May announcement WADA has been in contact asking for FIFA to sign its "straightforward declaration." FIFA have batted the letter back saying "we have signed."

That was the approach taken by Blatter when questioned on the issue at a news conference to launch the Olympic soccer tournament on Monday - an event which had been jeopardized by negotiations over soccer signing up to the code.

"Yes, we have signed - in the presence of the head of WADA, the president of the IOC, 205 national associations of FIFA and the world's media," Blatter said.

"We have signed with a declaration and a document that Mr Pound read out to 1,000 delegates and in front of the TV cameras and we will not reconsider a document that is now part of the minutes of Congress.

"We have said we are going to fight doping but also that the amendments - I cannot say exceptions - which were presented by Mr Pound are an integrated part of our signature.

"There is no problem and I don't know why a problem was brought up by the administration of WADA."

The problem lies with FIFA's insistence on including its own rules for dealing with doping offences, rules at variance with those of WADA.

Broadly, FIFA wants to treat each doping case on its own merits, therefore ignoring WADA's broad brush approach to guilty verdicts and the length of any ban following a positive test.

FIFA also wants to retain the right of appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against a final binding decision and wants the right to keep a player's identity secret during any investigation.

"It is about individual case management," Blatter said. "Everyone has the right to be analyzed individually and in FIFA that works."

WADA feels otherwise and looks certain to continue to press for an unconditional acceptance of their code.

The Olympic soccer tournament, however, remains safe and will get the Games under way on Wednesday, two days ahead of the opening ceremony.

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