SA Team pass drug test

2008-09-01 14:36

Cape Town - Close to 100% of the paralympic athletes selected to go to the Beijing Games have been tested in the last three months leading up to Games, the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport announced on Monday.

The comprehensive testing programme on the team heading to the 2008 Beijing Paralympics happened in the last three months leading up to Games. Athletes and coaches have also been informed of the doping control requirements leading up to the Games.

A major part of these requirements is the completion of a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) application. A TUE is granted where an athlete is permitted to use a banned medication for a legitimate medical condition.

The Institute for Drug-Free Sport reviews TUE applications and grants the exemption when no alternate therapeutic medication exists and where the medicinal use does not constitute an unfair competitive advantage.

"We hold the same commitment to the paralympic sports family of ensuring that we send a clean, drug-free team to the Games as we do to our Olympic sports family when we sent a clean team to the Beijing Olympics.

Our commitment to fielding clean South African teams is also about protecting the health and well-being of the majority of athletes who compete clean, as well as catching the few who choose to cheat through using drugs, " said the Institute's chairperson, Dr Shuaib Manjra.

The SA Institute for Drug-Free Sport is the custodian of a drug-free sport environment in South Africa.

- SAPA