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<P class=story><SPAN class=storyby>By Simon Hart</SPAN>
<DIV style="FLOAT: left"><SPAN class=filed>(Filed: 13/08/2006)</SPAN></DIV><DIV class=cl></DIV>
<P class=small><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><P class=story>Professional footballers are to be subject to the same 'three strikes and you're out' missed drug-test rule that threatens the career of leading British track athlete Christine Ohuruogu following a decision by the Football Association to sign up to the country's tough new anti-doping policy.<P class=story>Footballers had previously been exempt from the system, which requires elite athletes to nominate one hour in the day, five days a week, when they guarantee to be available at a specified place for an out-of-competition drug test.<P class=story>Special rules for team sports mean that it will be the job of a club representative such as a coach or an administrator rather than individual players to provide up-to-date information to the drug-testing authorities about where their players will be for a set hour each day, but the consequences of a missed test will be the same for a footballer as they are for any other individual athlete. If, for instance, a drug tester turns up at the Chelsea training ground at the appointed hour and discovers that Frank Lampard is not there and there has been no prior notification, then the player would be marked down as having missed a drug test.<P class=story>The only way of avoiding such a black mark is if there are "exceptional circumstances". These have been described as "once in a blue moon" reasons such as a close relative being taken ill or the player being involved in a car crash on the way to the training ground. A failure by the club representative to inform the authorities of the player's whereabouts will not be a valid excuse, even if the player is blameless for the oversight.<P class=story>The new rules, which are expected to come into force in football by December, will place a big responsibility on the coach or club administrator to provide detailed information about his players' whereabouts, and to alter them when necessary. Any changes in the players' movements will have to be notified to the FA, who will pass the information on to UK Sport, the government agency that runs Britain's anti-doping programme.<P class=story>Failure to notify the authorities could prove a serious mistake since three no-shows within an 18-month period will be considered a doping violation punishable by a suspension. This is the fate that awaits Ohuruogu, the Commonwealth Games 400 metres champion, who allegedly missed a third random test when she changed training venues at the last minute without alerting the authorities. The possibility that a player could be punished because of a club representative's mistake is already ringing alarm bells at the Professional Footballers' Association. Gordon Taylor, the PFA chief executive, said: "If it didn't have anything to do with the player, it wouldn't be anything like fair justice if he was then penalised for something that wasn't his fault. There clearly has got to be an identified person who takes responsibility for this and clubs have got to make sure that they don't fall foul of these new rules."<P class=story>Missing a test is not to be confused with the offence of a "failure or refusal" to submit to a test, which led to Rio Ferdinand being punished with an eight-month ban in 2004. In Ferdinand's case, he left the Manchester United training ground after the drug testers had arrived and requested a urine sample. A missed test is recorded if an athlete is simply not at a specified location at a pre-ordained time.<P class=story>The new regulations were introduced in July 2005 after widespread consultation with athletes and governing bodies, though the burden of providing up-to-date information about whereabouts has
<DIV style="FLOAT: left"><SPAN class=filed>(Filed: 13/08/2006)</SPAN></DIV><DIV class=cl></DIV>
<P class=small><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><P class=story>Professional footballers are to be subject to the same 'three strikes and you're out' missed drug-test rule that threatens the career of leading British track athlete Christine Ohuruogu following a decision by the Football Association to sign up to the country's tough new anti-doping policy.<P class=story>Footballers had previously been exempt from the system, which requires elite athletes to nominate one hour in the day, five days a week, when they guarantee to be available at a specified place for an out-of-competition drug test.<P class=story>Special rules for team sports mean that it will be the job of a club representative such as a coach or an administrator rather than individual players to provide up-to-date information to the drug-testing authorities about where their players will be for a set hour each day, but the consequences of a missed test will be the same for a footballer as they are for any other individual athlete. If, for instance, a drug tester turns up at the Chelsea training ground at the appointed hour and discovers that Frank Lampard is not there and there has been no prior notification, then the player would be marked down as having missed a drug test.<P class=story>The only way of avoiding such a black mark is if there are "exceptional circumstances". These have been described as "once in a blue moon" reasons such as a close relative being taken ill or the player being involved in a car crash on the way to the training ground. A failure by the club representative to inform the authorities of the player's whereabouts will not be a valid excuse, even if the player is blameless for the oversight.<P class=story>The new rules, which are expected to come into force in football by December, will place a big responsibility on the coach or club administrator to provide detailed information about his players' whereabouts, and to alter them when necessary. Any changes in the players' movements will have to be notified to the FA, who will pass the information on to UK Sport, the government agency that runs Britain's anti-doping programme.<P class=story>Failure to notify the authorities could prove a serious mistake since three no-shows within an 18-month period will be considered a doping violation punishable by a suspension. This is the fate that awaits Ohuruogu, the Commonwealth Games 400 metres champion, who allegedly missed a third random test when she changed training venues at the last minute without alerting the authorities. The possibility that a player could be punished because of a club representative's mistake is already ringing alarm bells at the Professional Footballers' Association. Gordon Taylor, the PFA chief executive, said: "If it didn't have anything to do with the player, it wouldn't be anything like fair justice if he was then penalised for something that wasn't his fault. There clearly has got to be an identified person who takes responsibility for this and clubs have got to make sure that they don't fall foul of these new rules."<P class=story>Missing a test is not to be confused with the offence of a "failure or refusal" to submit to a test, which led to Rio Ferdinand being punished with an eight-month ban in 2004. In Ferdinand's case, he left the Manchester United training ground after the drug testers had arrived and requested a urine sample. A missed test is recorded if an athlete is simply not at a specified location at a pre-ordained time.<P class=story>The new regulations were introduced in July 2005 after widespread consultation with athletes and governing bodies, though the burden of providing up-to-date information about whereabouts has