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Article by Dennis "DSource" Guillermo, Examiner
Bob Arum issued a game-changing statement last week when he said that Manny Pacquiao is willing to agree to random drug testing with no cut-off as long as it is not by the United States Anti-Doping Agency [USADA].
"We have agreed in the Pacquiao camp to unlimited random testing done by a responsible, neutral organization," Arum was quoted by Yahoo and ESPN. Arum specified the Pacquiao camps' questions regarding USADA's relationship with Floyd Mayweather, Jr. who handpicked the agency for his testing demands.
"We don't believe USADA is a neutral organization," Arum continued and added, "I don't think anybody's test is as vigorous as the test administered by the Olympic Organization. And we can arrange for the Olympic Organization [WADA] to handle the test under the supervision of the Athletic commission respective of the state where the fight is going to be held."
Our colleague Michael Marley from New York was able to get USADA's response to Arum's statements through the agency's media relations manager, Annie Skinner. "We certainly do not have a bias against any athlete," Skinner said as quoted by Marley and added, "We do not have a bias (favoring) one athlete over another. All athletes are presumed to be clean until such time as they are proven otherwise.
"But, when it comes to drug testing, USADA, which is a signatory to WADA rules, regulations and procedures, is the gold standard for sports in the United States. We completely adhere to all the international standards as promulgated by WADA."
Looking to further shed light on the situation, I turned to BALCO founder Victor Conte, who has had significant first-hand experience dealing with USADA and WADA [World Anti-Doping Agency] and a wealth of knowledge regarding anti-doping.
"I find the recent comments from USADA's Annie Skinner that WADA "does not do any actual testing, they do not have the infrastructure to do that." to be kind of amusing. The exact same thing can be said about USADA. However, WADA is the organization that actually provides the accreditation to the drug testing laboratories, not USADA. USADA does not do any type of drug testing themselves, they simply refer the testing out to a WADA accredited laboratory," Conte told me and further emphasized the agency's costly fees to conduct their random blood testing.
"The cost of USADA's Olympic style testing is staggering. Andre Ward says "USADA charges $50,000 to $100,000 for Olympic style drug testing for 7-8 weeks for both fighters. This is a massive increase in the actual cost of the tests that are performed for the fighters. USADA does not do any testing whatsoever themselves. They simply refer the testing out to a WADA accredited laboratory. USADA basically holds the blind test codes that match the athlete's blood and urine samples."
In February of 2005, Conte had an elaborate meeting with USADA to discuss how to better enforce drug testing and anti-doping in the Olympics. Conte pointed out the many inadequacies with USADA's testing and advised them on how to better manage their resources to catch cheaters and dopers. "I was trying to show them that the athletes aren't using these performance enhancing drugs through the seasons, they predominantly use them during the off-season.
Bob Arum issued a game-changing statement last week when he said that Manny Pacquiao is willing to agree to random drug testing with no cut-off as long as it is not by the United States Anti-Doping Agency [USADA].
"We have agreed in the Pacquiao camp to unlimited random testing done by a responsible, neutral organization," Arum was quoted by Yahoo and ESPN. Arum specified the Pacquiao camps' questions regarding USADA's relationship with Floyd Mayweather, Jr. who handpicked the agency for his testing demands.
"We don't believe USADA is a neutral organization," Arum continued and added, "I don't think anybody's test is as vigorous as the test administered by the Olympic Organization. And we can arrange for the Olympic Organization [WADA] to handle the test under the supervision of the Athletic commission respective of the state where the fight is going to be held."
Our colleague Michael Marley from New York was able to get USADA's response to Arum's statements through the agency's media relations manager, Annie Skinner. "We certainly do not have a bias against any athlete," Skinner said as quoted by Marley and added, "We do not have a bias (favoring) one athlete over another. All athletes are presumed to be clean until such time as they are proven otherwise.
"But, when it comes to drug testing, USADA, which is a signatory to WADA rules, regulations and procedures, is the gold standard for sports in the United States. We completely adhere to all the international standards as promulgated by WADA."
Looking to further shed light on the situation, I turned to BALCO founder Victor Conte, who has had significant first-hand experience dealing with USADA and WADA [World Anti-Doping Agency] and a wealth of knowledge regarding anti-doping.
"I find the recent comments from USADA's Annie Skinner that WADA "does not do any actual testing, they do not have the infrastructure to do that." to be kind of amusing. The exact same thing can be said about USADA. However, WADA is the organization that actually provides the accreditation to the drug testing laboratories, not USADA. USADA does not do any type of drug testing themselves, they simply refer the testing out to a WADA accredited laboratory," Conte told me and further emphasized the agency's costly fees to conduct their random blood testing.
"The cost of USADA's Olympic style testing is staggering. Andre Ward says "USADA charges $50,000 to $100,000 for Olympic style drug testing for 7-8 weeks for both fighters. This is a massive increase in the actual cost of the tests that are performed for the fighters. USADA does not do any testing whatsoever themselves. They simply refer the testing out to a WADA accredited laboratory. USADA basically holds the blind test codes that match the athlete's blood and urine samples."
In February of 2005, Conte had an elaborate meeting with USADA to discuss how to better enforce drug testing and anti-doping in the Olympics. Conte pointed out the many inadequacies with USADA's testing and advised them on how to better manage their resources to catch cheaters and dopers. "I was trying to show them that the athletes aren't using these performance enhancing drugs through the seasons, they predominantly use them during the off-season.
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