Blood testing for Origin series and Tests

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Blood testing for Origin series and Tests
Topic Started: Mar 18 2010, 03:00 AM (65 Views)
stacey	Mar 18 2010, 03:00 AM Post #1
Administrator Posts: 2,571 Group: Admins Member #1 Joined: May 22, 2009	# Brent Read # From: The Australian THE Australian Rugby League has raised the prospect of blood testing for human growth hormone and EPO (erythropoietin) during the State of Origin series and the Four Nations tournament later in the year. A day after The Australian revealed the NRL had expanded its drug-testing regime to embrace blood sampling on a greater scale, ARL chief executive Geoff Carr refused to rule out mirroring those procedures in Origin and international football. "We do a lot of testing at Origin," Carr said. "If we're able to test for (HGH and EPO), it is a possibility." Asked about the prospects of using blood testing at the Four Nations later in the year, an idea which has been championed by English officials following the positive test returned by former Great Britain player Terry Newton, Carr said: "It was reported that the Rugby Football League would request some tests in that area. "We haven't had that request yet. We have a fairly stringent policy around the international game." Any decision to adopt blood testing at Origin and Test level, however, is likely to require the backing of the Rugby League Players Association.. RLPA chief executive David Garnsey reiterated his support would not be forthcoming unless there was clear evidence a player was using HGH or EPO. "If there is good intelligence to justify it, than yes," Garnsey said. "Not just testing as a matter of course. We don't support that." He also made it clear the RLPA had lent its weight to the NRL's revised program on the understanding that blood testing would not be on a widespread scale. "We don't want to have drugs in our game," Garnsey said." (But) the medical advice is still very firmly in the corner of this not being a major issue in our game." The NRL's decision to help finance tests for HGH and EPO, as well as CERA (continuous erythropoietin receptor activator), received widespread praise yesterday, with officials from the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Agency (ASADA) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) supporting the move. Under the new testing procedures, the NRL and ASADA have also endorsed the storage of blood and urine samples for eight years for the purposes of future investigations. "I welcome the decision and I congratulate the NRL," said WADA president John Fahey. "The most effective deterrent to doping in sport is the likelihood of being caught. "The more comprehensive the anti-doping program, the greater the chances of catching and rubbing out the cheats. "I'm particularly pleased about the decision to store the blood samples. Science and technology are making giant strides in the detection area and the opportunity to re-analyse samples over future years adds significant dimensions to the effectiveness of the NRL program." Link



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