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IOC says doping will never disappear

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-10-25 09:28

ACAPULCO, Mexico - International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge told media on Sunday that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) cannot hope to completely eliminate doping from sport.

"Doping will never disappear completely," Rogge told a press conference during the joint meeting of the IOC with the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC).

"The urge to cheat is something deeply ingrained in human beings. Doping will never disappear completely, but we can reduce it to its minimum expression," he said.

Rogge said that WADA is doing its job "seeking prevention and following up on dissuasive plans like cooperating with the pharmaceutical industry. We are doing all that is humanly possible."

The IOC also enjoys close cooperation with governments in the pursuit and punishment of sports doping cases. He cited as an example a case where Italian police searched, investigated and carried out anti-doping test on the Austrian biathlon team during the 2006 Turin Olympic Games, because of suspicions over possible banned substance abuse.

The IOC has focused on threats to Olympic sports due to the use of banned or illegal substances, which Rogge has called the new scourge of sports.