Should Doping Be Criminalized?

“[I]n the realm of international sports, it has become almost commonplace for too many athletes to yield to the temptation of bridging the gap between their own skill and the pinnacle of athletic achievement by resorting to performance enhancing drugs.

And to conceal this fall from grace, cheaters are employing increasingly sophisticated modes of masking the use of any proscribed drugs.

This practice, some of it state-sanctioned, undermines international athletic competition and is often connected to more nefarious actions by state actors… The RADA Act is a serious step towards cracking down on the use of performance-enhancing drugs in major international competition because it establishes criminal penalties and civil remedies for doping fraud.

A number of other nations, including Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, and Spain, have embraced criminal sanctions for doping fraud violations and it is time for the United States to be added to this list.

Doping fraud in major international competitions—like the Olympics, the World Cup and the Tour de France—is often linked with corruption, bribery and money laundering.

It is not just victory that criminals engaged in doping fraud snatch away from clean athletes—athletes depend on prize money and sponsorships to sustain their livelihoods.

The United States has a large role to play in ferreting out corruption in international sports.”

“The widespread use of performance enhancing substances has come to light in recent years, harming athletes and fans alike. Clean U.S. athletes and sports organizations who participate in these competitions, as well as their U.S. sponsors, are denied their due recognition and economic rewards. And their fans lose when the legitimacy and integrity of the competitions they enjoy are debased.

In recent years, there have been numerous allegations and instances of doping by professional and amateur athletes. The summer and winter Olympic Games, in particular, have been plagued with doping scandals, which has left an indelible stain on the reputation of these major international sports events…

This legislation would fill that gap by establishing appropriate criminal penalties and civil remedies for international doping fraud. In addition to imposing criminal penalties on the conspirators, the bill would authorize private civil actions for doping fraud, which would give athletes and corporate sponsors the right to sue in federal court to recover damages from individuals who may have defrauded competitions.

This bill would provide justice to clean U.S. athletes, such as Olympic runner Alysia Montaño, skeleton racer Katie Uhlaender, bobsledder Steve Holcomb, and many other champions who pursue excellence over glory. They have been denied medals that were rightfully theirs and cheated out of lucrative opportunities, such as sponsorships. Most importantly, they have been deprived of the pride of seeing their country’s flag being raised on the Olympic podium—an emotional moment that was stolen from them.”

“The [Rodchenkov Anti-Doping] Act establishes criminal penalties for systems that carry out doping-fraud schemes that rob athletes, citizens and businesses. It also protects whistleblowers from retaliation and provides restitution for athletes defrauded by conspiracies to dope. It is a monumental day in the fight for clean sport worldwide and we look forward to seeing the Act soon become law and help change the game for clean athletes for the good.”

“It has been argued that a harm reductionist approach to doping would be dangerous to the health of athletes with youth participants being of particular concern. It has also been contended that an anti-doping stance is necessary to uphold the values of fair-play and equality which underpin the ethos of sport. By upholding these values in a criminal framework, the law could operate to act as a deterrent to other dopers but more importantly could bring back belief in the ‘spirit of sport’. It has been proposed that criminalisation within the UK is viable both theoretically and pragmatically. Criminalisation would be a stronger deterrent to athletes than current sanctions, and retributive justice administered by the independent criminal justice system could alter the public’s perception of sport’s highest achievers. The public’s reaction to the best sporting achievements could shift from ‘doping but not caught’ to ‘clean because not prosecuted’, bring back faith in the truth of the greatest sporting moments and revive the ‘spirit of sport.’”