Doc. 8280
11 December 1998

Doping in sport

Motion for a recommendation

presented by Mr Elo and others

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it

1.        The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is alarmed at the recent increase of doping scandals in sports (for example, during the swimming world championships in Australia, during the Tour de France, in Italian football).

2.       The possible inclusion in the Olympic Games of baseball, a sport that is linked to a different tradition in the approach to dealing with performance-enhancing drugs in professional sport in the United States as compared to the rest of the world, threatens the basic Olympic guidelines on doping.

3.       The Council of Europe’s Anti-Doping Convention of 1989 (to which Canada and Australia are also parties) has proposed a number of measures for effective anti-doping programmes and policies and continues to be the only framework for European and international co-operation in this field, not only between governments but also between governments and international sports organisations.

4.       The Assembly feels that more should be done for the protection of the health of athletes and of the moral and ethical foundations of sport and therefore recommends that the Committee of Ministers:

i.        study more carefully how harmonisation of laws, including those on medical substances, could help to reduce the incidence of doping in sport;

ii.        develop more effective exchanges of information and co-operation;

iii.        ensure that athletes, but also coaches and anyone else found guilty of association with doping are severely and effectively punished;

iv.        take a concerted stand in international fora such as the forthcoming International Olympic Committee (IOC) Conference;

v.        step up the resources of the Monitoring Group of the Anti-Doping Convention in order to enable it to fulfil its tasks in a more effective way.

5.        It further urges the IOC to stand by its ethical principles and to accept no derogation whatsoever to the Olympic Medical Code.

Signed : ¹

Elo, Finland, SOC

Arnason, Ireland, LDR

Bartumeu Cassany, Andorra, SOC

Chiliman, Romania, LDR

Fehr, Switzerland, LDR

Fleetwood, Sweden, EDG

Fyfe, United Kingdom, SOC

Hadjidemetriou, Cyprus, SOC

Khunov, Ukraine, UEL

Kiely, Ireland, LDR

Martelli, Italy, EPP/CD

O'Hara, United Kingdom, SOC

Risari, Italy, EPP/CD

Russell-Johnston, United Kingdom, LDR

Schicker, Austria, SOC

Stepova, Czech Republic, SOC

Varela I Serra, Spain, LDR

¹        SOC: Socialist Group

      EPP/CD: Group of the European People’s Party

      EDG: European Democratic Group

      LDR : Liberal, Democratic and Reformers’ Group

      UEL: Group of the Unified European Left

      NR: not registered in a group