Long at the forefront of fighter safety, the latest announcement from the World Boxing Council has observers concerned that the sanctioning body has a taken a big step in the wrong direction.
The Mexico City-headquartered organization announced on Saturday its intention to cease random drug testing through its Clean Boxing Program (CBP). The decision stems from the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) global pandemic which has claimed 13,000 lives as this goes to publish, with more than 1,500 deaths reported in the past 24 hours alone.
Entitles around the world have been forced to severely alter everyday practices, with many areas of the world calling for curfews and—in some instances—total lockdown of all non-essential businesses. It now seems that the WBC has followed suit, though its approach entered unchartered territory.
“The World Boxing Council—in agreement with VADA (Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency) [t]esting has temporarily suspended all Clean Boxing Program testing,” Mauricio Sulaiman, president of the WBC announced on Saturday. “It’s not possible to collect samples as collectors and boxers must abide by current policies.”
The declaration is well-intended—as is everything Sulaiman tends to do—but has also raised concerns that it gives athletes a license to cheat.
In recent weeks, United Kingdom Anti-Doping (UKAD) and United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) have revealed their being forced to scale back testing though not the point of completely shutting down operations. USADA has vowed to treat Olympic-eligible athletes as its priority, while UKAD announced its intentions to still move forward but with a modified approach to traditional practices.
As previously reported by BoxingScene.com, VADA—which works with CBP but remains its own entity and maintaining its own testing standards—revealed its plans to remain at the forefront of drug testing while also evaluating the current climate to determine the best course of action to conduct its business.
“As a Las Vegas physicians, Dr. Flip Homansky and I are directly following the evolving CDC recommendations as they pertain to Covid-19," Dr. Margaret Goodman, founder, president and chairman of VADA told BoxingScene.com on Thursday. "However, we can’t ignore the inherent risks fighters face in training and in competition that is increased with PED use.”
For current titlists and ranked contenders with the WBC, it would appear that they won’t have to worry about phone calls confirming their whereabouts in the foreseeable future.
“We will evaluate conditions in [three] weeks,” confirmed Sulaiman. “Let’s all participate #StayHome.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox