Cannot be ignored

Young athletes take a doping knowledge test at a tournament. Photo: Nguyen Hong

Propaganda alone is not enough.

At the end of 2024, at the National Bodybuilding Championship held in Ca Mau, the Vietnam Anti-Doping Center randomly took samples and detected 4 positive cases (2 athletes from Ho Chi Minh City, 1 athlete from Lam Dong, 1 athlete from Dong Nai).

After following the procedures, last weekend, the Vietnam Anti-Doping Center officially announced a 3-year ban (from December 17, 2024 to December 16, 2027) for the 4 athletes mentioned above. During this period, the athletes are not allowed to participate in competitions and sports activities in the national and international competition system (except for anti-dopingeducation programs) in any capacity. In addition, their competition results were also canceled and their medals and bonuses (if any) at the 2024 National Bodybuilding Championships were revoked.

The identification of athletes who tested positive for doping at a national sports tournament is the result of efforts to ensure fairness in sports tournaments within the national competition system. In addition to propaganda and training to provide knowledge on doping prevention and control for a number of national teams, the Sports sector as well as the Vietnam Anti-Doping Center determined that it was necessary to take doping test samples at a number of tournaments. Therefore, despite limited funding, the Vietnam Anti-Doping Center still organized random doping tests with about 30 samples at a number of national tournaments in bodybuilding, swimming, athletics, weightlifting, etc. These are individual sports, with many cases of "doping" with different levels and causes.

This once again shows the opinion of many experts and managers in the sports industry that it is still necessary to combine both propaganda and random testing in tournaments to minimize positive doping cases in Vietnamese sports.

Increased testing

It is not easy to have a "clean" environment in top-level sports competitions without maintaining a suitable solution system. In fact, the data on Vietnamese athletes "infected" with doping, although not fully reflecting the situation of doping use - intentionally or unintentionally - is very noteworthy. For example, at the 9th National Sports Festival - 2022, the test results of nearly 200 samples conducted showed that 17 samples tested positive for doping. At the 31st SEA Games - 2022, Vietnamese sports had 6 cases of the athletics team "infected" with doping. In addition, when conducting tests before the 31st SEA Games, 6 bodybuilders were discovered to be using banned substances in sports activities...

According to sports doctor Pham Manh Hung, who has worked for many years with national sports teams as well as Hanoi sports clubs, although most athletes are clearly aware of the consequences of using banned substances in training and sports competitions, there are still many who violate regulations - both unintentionally and intentionally. Therefore, in addition to updating information and regularly organizing training for coaches and athletes from central to local levels and clubs, stronger measures are needed, including organizing continuous and regular doping tests at tournaments, even during the period when athletes prepare for the tournament.

Director of the Vietnam Anti-Doping Center Le Minh Ha once shared his desire to increase the number of doping test samples at tournaments in the national competition system, because this is a highly deterrent solution. However, the barrier to this work is limited funding. The average cost to complete a doping test is about 200 USD. Due to limited funding, the Vietnam Anti-Doping Center currently conducts random sampling of 30 cases each year, requiring great effort. If we want to organize more and more frequent testing, in addition to the allocated funding, we need the participation of athlete management units or sports federations.

Head of the High Performance Sports Department (Vietnam Sports Administration) Hoang Quoc Vinh agrees with the view of increasing random doping testing in many sports. This is also a way to convey a clear message from the Sports industry in the uncompromising fight against the use of banned substances in training and competition.

It is not easy to limit the use of doping in sports, but it is not impossible. What is important is the determination of managers in both words and specific solutions, besides relying on the awareness of coaches and athletes.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/khong-the-lo-la-699743.html