FIFA President Sepp Blatter answers journalists' questions during a press conference in Zurich, Switzerland, on Monday Oct. 29, 2007. FIFA's executive committee voted unanimously to end its policy of rotating the hosting of World Cups. AP Photo/Keystone, Steffen Schmidt
FIFA President Sepp Blatter needs to wake up and smell the coffee. He is against the ‘whereabouts’ rule, by which players must provide information regarding their location for one hour every day of the year.
He has come out and said it treats everybody as if they are guilty of doping.
“We are in a situation in which all are accused. That doesn’t fit my understanding of law,” he said.
“Every sportsperson is, in the sense of the WADA code, suspected of doping, therefore accused. That’s not right in our society.”
But you should know something Sepp. In the court of public opinion, you are all already guilty.
When the Ben Johnson scandal erupted during the 1988 Olympic Games, it was huge. The shock resulted in it being a massive news story.
No one could comprehend that the winner of the 100 metres had tested positive for steroids.
What we didn’t know then is that four of the top-five place getters were also on the jungle juice. It is now referred to as “the dirtiest race in history.”
Fast forward to a few weeks ago where it was announced that, in a retesting of all the samples, six athletes from the Beijing Games tested positive. Did anyone even flinch?
Let’s be honest. It would be more surprising if the Tour de France came and went without there being a positive drug test.
The whole ‘whereabouts’ issue came into play with Danish cyclist Michael Rasmussen, who lied about his whereabouts. He was leading the Tour at the time he withdrew from the 2007 race.
Whether he is clean or not remains to be seen. But Lance Armstrong simply can’t shake the suspicions which follow him wherever he goes.
Baseball is currently digesting the news that Manny Ramirez tested positive. There is a book on Alex Rodriguez about to be released.
Meanwhile, from the beginning, the whole Barry Bonds drugs issue was a circus. But now people just accept it. Regardless of whether he has admitted or not, regardless of whether he has tested positive for anything, people just look at the size of his gargantuan head and accept the fact that he has been a human pin-cushion.
Sepp can cling to his notions of a bygone era, but athletes don’t deserve the benefit of the doubt.
That’s if any doubt exists anymore.
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