It is time to get the drugs out of sports and back Dick Pound of WADA and Patrice Clerc of Cycling also.?

If drug cheats in sport are not stopped immediately sport as we know it will be nothing more than a battle between chemists. Cycling is the laughing stock of sportspeople all over and that has been the case for decades. No champion can claim to be a true champion when we have the on-going spectacle of former winners of the Tour de France admitting taking substances. With such high stakes in sport and sponsors pushing millions of pounds towards winners it has become too tempting for third rate athletes, footballers,cyclists,tennis players,swimmers,weightlifters etc.etc. If we don’t back Pound & Clerc and give people like Pat McQuaid the cold shoulder sports of all classes is doomed to the dustbin of history and deservedly so. Let’s not pussyfoot around. Regardless of the high profile or Nationality of cheats should be booted out for life when they are caught not just for a few laughable years. Heard the one about the drug cheat who was paid wages for going shopping or lying in bed.

I agree that it is high time to start doing something about the doping problem that faces cycling and other professional sports. However, Dick Pound is not the answer. His approach that everyone is guilty until proven innocent coupled with WADA’s disregard for their own rules, undermines his organization’s attempts to eliminate doping. Engaging in unethical behavior to catch unethical behavior is not the answer. Unfortunately, there is too much "baggage" around Mr. Pound that undermines his credibility.