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Steroid passport to be introduced this year

Category: Sport

World Anti-Doping Agency president John Fahey says that a new weapon in the fight against performance enhancing drugs will be introduced by the end of 2013: a steroid passport.

It will be a complement to the biological passport. The biological passport measures changes in blood profile, and with it you can detect differences from an athlete’s established levels that might indicate doping. The steroid passport will work in a similar way.

“The biological passport is a key component against doping and has been recognized by the courts as evidence,” Fahey said at the International Olympic Committee’s annual meeting in Buenos Aires.

Fahey's four-year term as WADA president is coming to an end. But before quitting, he said that WADA is likely to double the ban for first-time doping offenders from two to four years at its congress in Johannesburg in November.

“The athletes have demanded a tougher approach to cheats and instead of the current two-year ban, the penalty will be doubled for first offenders,” Fahey said.