World Anti Doping Agency - Connection between Governmentality, Sport, and Doping - Literature review Example

World Anti Doping Agency In topical times, sport is no more considered as a mere playful activity. It has become more of a business enterprise be itin local, national or international level. Technology is becoming an intrinsic part of this activity. Athletes belonging to the elite or amateur genre benefit greatly from technologies that enhance their performance ranging from psychological counseling, surgical reconstructions to specialist coaching. Sports now largely serve the political and economic interests with record breaking performances. To stay in the competition and hone their performance, athletes more often use various means like anabolic steroids, erythropoietin and human growth hormone which are against the ethics of sports. World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) was the first organisation that was built to deal with the drug problem in sports. This paper examines the governing practices of the organisation. Connection between governmentality, sport and doping Since the growth of political power in the 18th century, government began to emerge as the sole power to control and manage population. The primary focus of the government is to is to procure strategic management to secure “the welfare of the population, the improvement of its condition, the increase of its wealth, longevity, health, etc (Park, 2005, p.175).” With the growing number of cultural institutions worldwide and the emerging mechanisms of government activities, it can now be evaluated how the governments perform through these transnational cultural institutions. Park (2005) believes that WADA can be used as an example to study the governmentality of these institutions and how culture becomes the tool of the government that works beyond a nation’s boundary in this age of globalization. More specifically governmentality “concerns the political management of the bodies of the whole population and involves a set of techniques to achieve it” (Park, 2005, p.177). The main purpose is to ensure the good health of the entire population. Thus it is natural to suggest that the world of sports and the health of the athletes is the primary concern of the government and its activities are concentrated on strategies to govern the body of sports. Sports can be considered as a vital issue of modern governmentality; it is a cultural technology that maintains the health, efficiency and productivity of the population (Park, 2005, p.177). During the 1998 Tour de France there was a large scale illicit drug use by the participants and this brought forward the limitations of the then existing doping control system. It was then that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to establish an organisation called WADA that can independently function worldwide to control doping. The function of WADA is not limited to detecting of athletes who consume drugs and penalize them. WADA also implements various programs and disciplinary mechanisms to inhibit the use of drugs (Park, 2005, p.179). The famous American cyclist Lance Armstrong was accused of consuming and trafficking of drugs. He was barred from Olympic sports for life although he repeatedly denied of the charges (Macur, 2012). WADA also funds development of new test for detection of doping. One new test developed by the University of Southampton detected use of growth hormone doping by a couple of Olympian power lifters in September, 2012 and they have been banned from the sport for two years (New test detects growth hormone doping, 2012). WADA: ethical considerations The major ethical arguments that oppose the use of drugs in sports include fairness and spirit of sport. The sport philosophy holds a critical perspective of anti-drug policies. It identifies the individual rights of the athletes regarding drug issues. There are some standard arguments is favour of drug control – 1) sport is regarded as a reflection of the natural physical ability of a person which gets hampered by artificial substances like drugs, 2) drugs bring in an element of unfairness in sport as athletes who take drugs have the advantage over others on unfair training, 3) drugs has the potential to pose short term or long term harm to the health of the athletes and so awareness of this must be spread specially among the young athletes, and 4) drugs used by adult athletes can portray a wrong picture to the younger ones as the latter do not have the maturity to make right choice with respect to drugs in sport. However, the arguments in favour of banning drugs in not without criticisms. One such argument is that drugs used for recuperation can give an athlete more opportunity for training as drugs can help faster recovery from injuries. It is necessary for sport philosophy to assess the social interests before implementing any kinds of anti-drug policies (Hemphill, 2009, pp.314-319). To evade detection athletes resort to using designer steroids. This is possible because of limitations of making lists of prohibited substances as some substances enhance the performance of an athlete and so cannot be prohibited (Burns, 2006, p.16). There is a subtle amount of coercion in practice that often gets ignored. If an athlete refuses to abide by the rules of WADA, the only option left is to forgo participation. In such cases the athletes give their consent more out of obligation than free will. Also by waiving their rights to privacy the athletes save themselves from automatic suspension (Teetzel, 2007, p.165). Civil rights of athletes Unlike other professions, in the field of sports the athletes need to always inform the sports authorities about their location during their free time even if they are elite athletes (whether adult or minor) or even if they are club members like swimmers. As in the recent years the issue of doping in sports has drawn attention worldwide, there has been growing arguments regarding the rights and responsibilities of athletes in the matter of anti-drug policies. In the eyes of law and politics the athletes are always under scrutiny regarding drug issues. They are often regarded as subject of debate based on assumption, not always false, that their interests are same as those of their national governing body (NGB). Although sports policies are made keeping in mind the benefit of athletes, they are seldom consulted. In most cases members of athlete committees are selected by officers rather than by peers and so they do not have the ability to argue on behalf of the athletes. Most of the representative bodies of athletes lack the authority to make any decisions and they often serve the purposes to legitimize the decisions of the NGB (Houlihan, 2010, pp.421-422). In 2005 WADA’s Athlete Committee was established to protect the ethical rights of the athletes and also to emphasize the roles and responsibilities of the athletes regarding anti-doping. The members of the committee help WADA to develop strategies to detect doping (Athlete Committee, n.d.). Houlihan (2010) has however mentioned two ways in which law can be shaped to defend the civil rights of the athletes. Firstly, domestic courts can be encouraged to start the practice of judicial review of the decisions arrived at by the sports bodies and secondly, the disciplinary wards of the sports bodies can adopt and implement sound legal practice into their mechanisms. The second one can be applied when NGBs strive to deter the courts from interfering by shaping their processes on the principles of the court. More recently, the human rights organisations are considered regarding protection of civil rights of athletes. Civil rights include “creating a private sphere for every human being which is to be protected against any undue interference by the state and other powerful actors” (Houlihan, 2010, p.423). As anti-doping agencies like WADA are increasingly becoming popular in many countries, it is the responsibility of the government to become answerable to the human rights organisations and prove that there was a “pressing social need” to intrude into the privacy of an athlete for the purpose of drug testing (Houlihan, 2010, p.423). There are also instances where drugs are administered into the bodies of athletes without their knowledge to enhance their performance. In such cases those athletes must not be held responsible for drug indulgence (Waddington & Smith, 2009, p.2). In the future the challenge that will confront WADA is to ensure compatibility between the implementation of testing and ensuring that all stakeholders are conforming to its programs. The organisation can become successful only when athletes are assured that everyone is treated equally (Thieme & Hemmersbach, 2009, p.529). Conclusion It is important for the athletes of any kind of sport to remember that it is their privilege to join any sporting club rather than their right, and so they must follow certain rules and regulations of the sports governing body. However, unless they are allowed to have a right to be informed about any important decisions regarding sports policy, they will have to be satisfied with whatever privileges and rights are bestowed on them. References Athlete Committee, (n.d.) WADA-AMA, retrieved on October 17, 2012 from: http://www.wada-ama.org/en/About-WADA/Governance/Athlete-Committee/ Burns, C.N. (2006). Doping in Sports. New York: Nova Publishers Hemphill, D. (March 12, 2009). Performance enhancement and drug control in sport: ethical considerations. Sport in Society: Cultures, Commerce, Media, Politics, Vol. 12, No.3, 313-326 Houlihan, B. (September 6, 2010). Civil Rights, Doping Control and the World Anti-doping Code. Sport in Society: Cultures, Commerce, Media, Politics, Vol. 7, No.3, 420-437 Macur, J. (October 10, 2012), Details of Doping Scheme Paint Armstrong as Leader, The New York Times, retrieved on October 17, 2012 from: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/11/sports/cycling/agency-details-doping-case-against-lance-armstrong.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 New test detects growth hormone doping, (September 20, 2012) The Times of India, retrieved on October 17, 2012 from: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/health/New-test-detects-growth-hormone-doping/articleshow/16432148.cms Park, J.K. (2005). Governing Doped Bodies: The World Anti-Doping Agency and the Global Culture of Surveillance. California St Univ Northridge, Vol. 5, No.2, 174-188 Teetzel, S. (January 1, 2007). Respecting Privacy In Detecting Illegitimate Enhancements In Athletes. Sports, Ethics and Philosophy, Vol.1, No.2, 159-170 Thieme D. & P. Hemmersbach. (2009). Doping in Sports. Springer Waddington, I. & A. Smith. (2009). An Introduction to Drugs in Sport: Addicted to Winning? New York: Taylor & Francis Read More