Boxer Shakul Samed from Ghana is the first athlete testing positive for a banned substance at the Commonwealth games in Birmingham. Despite the efforts of both the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) to keep the games 100% clean, anti-doping violations like this, threaten to taint the Games and athletes’ desire for a fair competition. Doping is particularly prevalent in sports that require strength and power such as boxing, thus it is not entirely surprising that the positive drug test was found in a boxer’s sample.
Although doping cases attract high publicity, it is worth noting that most athletes compete clean and do not want their name to be tainted by anti-doping violations. Sometimes athletes use banned substances unintentionally, as such substances are used in some sport supplements. Considering the number of events that have already taken place in the Games and the number of athletes who have competed in these events, it could be argued that one positive test in the second day of competition is probably not too much. Athletes, however, need to feel confident that they take part in a fair competition with zero dopers. What can be done to maximise the likelihood that this happens?
