AP: CONI prez. Ettore Torri says legalize Doping !

[DAOTEC]

Italy's anti-doping prosecutor is convinced that all cyclists are doping, a belief reinforced by four years of work as one of the world leaders in the battle against drugs in sports.

Torri said legalizing doping would be a possible solution if that didn't harm the health of cyclists, noting that anti-doping authorities prosecute only a small percentage of offenders.

"It's not fair when we single out one rider in a 100," he said. "If the other 99 have doped too but are not prosecuted, it's not fair."

AP: http://www.newser.com/article/d9ilmg5g0/ap-interview-coni-anti-doping-prosecutor-ettore-torri-convinced-all-cyclists-still-on-drugs.html


Finally, we are almost there if you ask me, don't you agree ?

 

[Berzin]

My belief, sadly, is that doping is a battle cycling has lost a long time ago.

Even if we had a concerted effort from the agencies involved, which we do not because all they do is fight amongst themselves, we have institutional corruption at the highest levels which makes testing for dope a completely hypocritical farce.

The one statement that resonates is Pat McQuaid stating if Armstrong were to be found to have doped, he'd still consider him a great champion.

For the head of the UCI to make such a remark and still keep his job tells you everything you need to know about this situation.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

The battle against doping in cycling is only rivaled in success by America's War on Drugs.

 

[theyoungest]

Marco Pinotti has reacted to this news:

if you interrogate rider connected with doping, what did you expect them to say?

they prefer to hide behind the belief "everyone is doping" instead admitting they are losers, wanckers, cheaters, liars

 

[icefire]

...

Finally, we are almost there if you ask me, don't you agree ?

There's no need to legalize doping. The last sentence in the article summarises the solution to the problem:

There's always a grandmother, a filet or something else

 

[flicker]

My belief, sadly, is that doping is a battle cycling has lost a long time ago.

Even if we had a concerted effort from the agencies involved, which we do not because all they do is fight amongst themselves, we have institutional corruption at the highest levels which makes testing for dope a completely hypocritical farce.

The one statement that resonates is Pat McQuaid stating if Armstrong were to be found to have doped, he'd still consider him a great champion.

For the head of the UCI to make such a remark and still keep his job tells you everything you need to know about this situation.

Armstrong is a great rider and if he doped he is still a great rider. Same goes for Ulrich, Kloeden, Vino, F. Schleck, Contador, Valverde, etc. Even Frank Vanderbrouke and Museaw.
If you do not know what champions these guys are well, oh well.

 

[brianf7]

Take the criminal element out and possibily you will find another way. there is life after cycling and if anyone who has been around cycling since 1960's will know the ones that are still alive now to talk about it.

Ounce the criminal element is out of it it will shut the media up It will then alow people to talk about it with their doctors who knows them best not some outsider.

Nothing works with everyone and experimenting is when it becomes dangerous.

A good Doctor knows what an rider needs not another rider or coach.

At the preasent they whole thing is becoming parinoid

 

[auscyclefan94]

What hope does cycling have when you have torri wanting to legalise doping. It is very sad.

 

[poupou]

Armstrong is a great rider and if he doped he is still a great rider. Same goes for Ulrich, Kloeden, Vino, F. Schleck, Contador, Valverde, etc. Even Frank Vanderbrouke and Museaw.
If you do not know what champions these guys are well, oh well.

Why did you not named Bassons as great rider?

 

[rolfrae]

Marco Pinotti has reacted to this news:

If so many riders are clean then they need to stand up and be counted like Pinotti has. They need to shout about the unfairness. Instead we have guys like David Millar protesting Contador's innocence saying he didn't dope because he's a "gentleman". It's times like this I wish Wiggins was still allowed on Twitter.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

So will we be closing down The Clinic in the near future?

Now that would be sad.

 

[theyoungest]

If so many riders are clean then they need to stand up and be counted like Pinotti has. They need to shout about the unfairness. Instead we have guys like David Millar protesting Contador's innocence saying he didn't dope because he's a "gentleman". It's times like this I wish Wiggins was still allowed on Twitter.

If I were a clean rider, I'd zone out of this discussion and just focus on my own performance. I guess this is what most of them do. And where are the headlines about Pinotti's stance in this? There aren't any. Doping sells papers.

I'm not naive, but I certainly don't think that all riders dope. If you conduct an investigation among dopers, the only thing you'll hear is stories about dopers. D0h. This Torri character should know this.

 

[Roninho]

If I were a clean rider, I'd zone out of this discussion and just focus on my own performance. I guess this is what most of them do.

I would expect myself to be a lot more critical and openly critize the dopers. Michael Boogerd finished 2nd in a lot of classics to guys like hamilton, VDB, vino, rebellin, valverde, etc.. All guys that got popped later one. If he was indeed clean (which with all the austria-stories seems unlikely imo) then i just do not get that he did not call these guys out but instead reacted so calmly.

 

[frenchfry]

Why did you not named Bassons as great rider?

Not only Bassons, but how many others have never come close to realising their potential, or dropped out of the sport because they didn't want their blood to become full of drugs and plasticisers.

How many didn't resort to cheating and lying in order to be immortalised by one of Flickers insidious posts.

Cycling should be a noble sport, instead it represents all that is wrong with sport - anything goes in the race for money, glory and power and screw those who are stupid enough to follow the rules.

Hard to believe how cycling continues to be dominated by doping and scandals after so many years of scraping the bottom. How to believe anymore?

 

[frenchfry]

I would expect myself to be a lot more critical and openly critize the dopers. Michael Boogerd finished 2nd in a lot of classics to guys like hamilton, VDB, vino, rebellin, valverde, etc.. All guys that got popped later one. If he was indeed clean (which with all the austria-stories seems unlikely imo) then i just do not get that he did not call these guys out but instead reacted so calmly.

We are still waiting for the revolt of the riders themselves. Even if an argument can be made that the riders are dragged against their will into a well-oiled doping system, at some point they can take charge and rise up against doping and its facilitators. In the end, the riders have to most power to reject doping. Instead they are controlled by a mafia-like omerta and prefer to present themselves as victims unstead of participants.

 

[saganftw]

if they legalize doping,it will take out huge part of entertainment,what am i supossed to do during offseason?

anyway you cant wipe out doping because ppl (not only cyclists) are cheaters,thats natural,who doesnt want goodies for little to no effort?(those of you who are wonderfull human beings and have never cheated...take your gloriole and GTFO)

and while equipment is getting better,medical assistance is better (nondoping medical ***. i mean) you can also legalize doping,if human beings can achieve better performance with all these pills,gels,blood w/e why ban them?btw i think expecting athletes to be honest and clean is hypocrisy at its very best,why of all ppl athletes should be the ones that are nice,clean,honest,truthful...because they are rolemodels?because they make a lot of money?i dont expect anything different from an athlete than i expect from fellow ppl in work,school,bar,family

Ofc i can imagine if they legalize doping some dumbfck will die because he will use 2x more than is safe to use.Thats legitimate question,how much doping to allow?what substances?saying that legilize doping products that are harmless is vague because you need numbers of years study before you can say its harmless - and even then you ll find scientists with different results

so dont legilize doping,i want to be entertained,i find it exciting when someone big is caught...and also clinic guys would die w/o their daily dose of speculations

 

[Roland Rat]

f*** it, they should. Then we'll end up with a clean sport as they'll all die in their sleep. Short term pain for long term gain, and all that.

 

[jsem94]

This might lead to a LOT more deaths in cycling, but the doping would be more controlled and perhaps safer - so not more deaths anyway?

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

What hope does cycling have when you have torri wanting to legalise doping. It is very sad.

It's the means that lead to his comments that are sad
His suggestions are based on an idea of fair competition, not a positive towards doping. I imagine in his field of work, it would be hard not to be pessimistic.

 

[Roland Rat]

This might lead to a LOT more deaths in cycling, but the doping would be more controlled and perhaps safer - so not more deaths anyway?

No it wouldn't, people would still try to beat the system and get their hands on "the next big thing" direct from the pharmaceuticals. So instead of having a group who refuse to dope and a group cheating the system to dope to within 90% of their lives, the base group will become those doping "responsibly" with medical supervision and the group cheating the system will be taking some super-strength f***ed up horse juicing frankenstein-monster s**t direct from Uncle Marcellus who has that store at the back of that carpet shop in Marrakesh.

Nothing would change other than the placing of the goalposts.

 

[hrotha]

No it wouldn't, people would still try to beat the system and get their hands on "the next big thing" direct from the pharmaceuticals. So instead of having a group who refuse to dope and a group cheating the system to dope to within 90% of their lives, the base group will become those doping "responsibly" with medical supervision and the group cheating the system will be taking some super-strength f***ed up horse juicing frankenstein-monster s**t direct from Uncle Marcellus who has that store at the back of that carpet shop in Marrakesh.

Nothing would change other than the placing of the goalposts.

In other words it'll be 1995-1996 again. When things were so bad the riders asked to be blood tested to protect their own lives.

 

[Leopejo]

What hope does cycling have when you have torri wanting to legalise doping. It is very sad.

Torri does not want ot legalize doping. He was just venting, frustrated by the latest doping news.

Today there is a partial retraction (gazzetta.it, in Italian)

 

[rhubroma]

What hope does cycling have when you have torri wanting to legalise doping. It is very sad.

Wait a minute, Torri's remarks were more sarcastic and the fruit of exsasperation than to be taken literally.

This is what happens when things either get lost in translation or when people don't read attentively.

Plus you clearly don't understand the Italian's cultural perspective. Torri is in his 80's, has faught doping harder than practically anyone in the business and has elevated CONI to among the most serious of national sport federations out there.

Firstly he said that every cyclist he has confronted and brought to task for doping (and here we mean Basso, DiLuca, Riccò, Mazzolini, etc.), each one to a man told him in private every rider does it. He was thus speaking through their words not his. Secondly, his was not a serious call to legalize doping in any case, as he specifically qualified what he said with "if it weren't bad for your health" and only because the system, in its present form, is coming up way short in punishing the guilty. Consequently his remark was never actually a call to legalize doping. Thirdly, in the spirit of Italian straight talk, Torri intended to make it clear that there is much hypocrisy in the system, in remarks made by those with vested interests which "pretend" that anti-doping, like the so called war on drugs, is ultimately a winnable war: even though they know just the opposite to be true. And this hypocrisy is also an integral part of the system, in so far as for every doper who is punished 100 of his colleagues guilty of the same offense do so with aparant impunity (which is why the system falls way short of achieving justice). Because the doctors are too good, because the money isn't there, because the governing body of cycling is just as corrupt and corruptable as the riders. So at this point, why not just "legalize it." It's within this context that Torri's remarks should be interpreted.

You see he, yes, has been taking things most seriously and assures us that he won't give up and continue the struggle. But he would be a hypocrite to not talk frankly about how things actually are. About the real progress which has been made. This is where his pessimism and sarcasm has come from. But it is straight talk which I think absolutely needs to be said. Lest the hypocrits' voices become the most listened to that allow some people to live with their illusions.

 

[rhubroma]

If I were a clean rider, I'd zone out of this discussion and just focus on my own performance. I guess this is what most of them do. And where are the headlines about Pinotti's stance in this? There aren't any. Doping sells papers.

I'm not naive, but I certainly don't think that all riders dope. If you conduct an investigation among dopers, the only thing you'll hear is stories about dopers. D0h. This Torri character should know this.

Nope, you're pretty naive with comments like this.

PS. I'm certain that a few have ridden clean. But they are in a such an insignifcant minority that they merely confirm the rule by their exception. Torri was refering to the "rule," not the exceptions. And this is what the public needs to be aware of.

 

[marioni]

Torri said legalizing doping would be a possible solution

Bravo! I agree 100%.