The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THERE were mixed reviews on Tuesday after published reports on the allegations against the Bahamas in a documentary from Al Jazeera’s Investigation Unit broadcast on Sunday were published in local dailies.

The report is titled “The Dark Side - Secrets Of The Sports Dopers.”

The Bahamas was named as a venue where some of the dosages of banned performance enhancing drugs - including human growth hormone (HGH), erythropoietin (EPO) and testosterone - were received.

Two Bahamian doctors - Dr Cyprian Strachan, who once sat on a Caribbean-wide anti-doping body for bodybuilding, and Dr Nicholas Fox - were mentioned in the report.

Dr Fox is also shown on camera claiming that three of the Golden Girls, the Bahamian sprint relay team that triumphed in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney were “patients of mine”. Although he did not mention names, when asked if he helped them he said not with banned substances but with “more traditional medications”.

When challenged later he said he had been lying to the undercover athlete who visited his office, could not get banned drugs and had never seen professional athletes.

Dr Strachan later said he had never supplied banned drugs.

There was mixed local reaction to the allegations yesterday.

Retired Golden Girl Pauline Davis-Thompson, now an IAAF councilwoman, said because of her position, she did not want to make any comments. But she once again denied that she “ever knew Dr Fox and I challenge him to publicly name the athletes who he has been involved with.” As for Dr Strachan, Ms Davis-Thompson said she knows him and has been in contact with him through the BAAA, but has never been to see him for any medical reasons.

The Bahamas Olympic Committee (BOC), the governing body for sports in the country, also remained tight-lipped.

BOC Secretary General Romel Knowles said they “are very much aware of the allegations and is treating them as such.”

However, the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture made its point emphatically clear on the issue.

“The ministry is aware of the circulating video clip which allegedly involves two well known local physicians,” said Director of Sports Timothy Munnings.

He said both doctors have denied any alleged involvement of providing banned substances to athletes.

Mr Munnings, a former member of the men’s 4 x 400 metre relay team, took the statement a bit further from a national prospective.

“The government of the Bahamas believes in the integrity of its athletes and has no known reason to suggest otherwise,” he stressed. “If any adverse finding be determined by any athlete or official, the Bahamas Anti-Doping Commission and the government of The Bahamas will impose the strict penalties as prescribed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Code.”

The Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations, now headed by Rosie Carey, was scheduled to make a statement, but up to press time, it was not released.

The Al Jazeera report was the results of an eight-month long investigation in which British hurdler Liam Collins went undercover in an attempt to expose the widespread nature of performance-enhancing drugs in global sports. As part of his undercover story, Mr Collins tells medical professionals tied to the trade of performance-enhancing drugs - including human growth hormone (HGH), erythropoietin (EPO) and testosterone - and that he is hoping for one last shot at glory at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The documentary paints a picture of an underground marketplace where athletes can easily obtain drugs that are hard to detect even with sophisticated drug tests like those implemented by Major League Baseball, the NFL and the Olympics. And it raises questions about how serious the owners of professional sports teams are about rooting out drug use, which can make the games more exciting and profitable, while doing damage to the bodies of players, not owners.