Fifa discusses new anti-drug measures

Fri Oct 30 2009 09:40:38

Football's governing body Fifa is to work with the World Anti-Doping Agency to step up the pressure on drug cheats in the sport.

They even discussed the possibility of cycling-style biological passports.

Since January 2008, the International Cycling Union (UCI) has collected blood samples from all professional riders to create a medical profile that would be compared with data registered in anti-doping tests.

"This is a strategy which could be extremely beneficial in the next few years," Wada president John Fahey said after meeting his opposite number Sepp Blatter at Fifa's headquarters.

"We welcome this partnership and we are happy that such an important sport is prepared to work with us," he added, although he warned it could take time to implement.

"It will not necessarily bring results straight away."

Fifa chief medical officer Jiri Dvorak added: "This is a long-term project and it's worthwhile exploring.

"Of these, 0.3 per cent test positive and these are mostly with social drugs such as marijuana and cocaine," said Dvorak. He said 0.03 per cent of the 33,000 tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

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