• London Olympics 2012

BOA accused of wasting time and money

Dwain Chambers could be one athlete to benefit from the CAS ruling © Getty Images

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The British Olympic Association (BOA) has been accused of "wasting time and money" by the director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), after the body's failed court case to keep its lifetime ban for those caught taking drugs.

WADA was taken to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) by the BOA, which was intent on maintaining its bylaw that banned guilty athletes from Olympic competition for life. BOA lost its battle, and now it has criticised by a leading WADA official.

"At the end of the day they have wasted a lot of time and a lot of money and got the inevitable result," said WADA director general David Howman, who also said the BOA had a deadline of May 18 to change its bylaw.

Failure to do so would, said Howson, result in their being reported to the International Olympic Committee for remaining 'non-compliant' with the world anti-doping code. Howson also criticised BOA chairman Lord Moynihan for describing the outcome of the CAS ruling as "a hollow victory for WADA".

"Declaring this issue a hollow victory is the wrong way of looking at it since it was a matter taken up by the BOA," added Howman. "The issue for the BOA is the rest of the world is looking at you and saying 'what have you done this for?'

"[Moynihan] has expressed views which have hardly had any touch with the real facts and the real situation in relation to anti-doping."

Marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe has also weighed into the debate, stating that she would do whatever she could to help action an athlete-led response to calling for a tougher line from WADA.

"This isn't about Dwain Chambers; it's a far wider issue. It's about a bigger deterrent being in place," Radcliffe was quoted as saying by The Daily Express.

"If WADA is not listening to the world's athletes then we have to make them. Athletes have a voice. We can put pressure on WADA to make this tougher.

"I've always had a loud voice against the cheats and if we all do that we can make a difference. I will make a stand. I would like to think we could do it across the world. If all the athletes logged on to a campaign and signed their name to it, I'm sure we could do it."

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