Howman has admitted that it might need the High Court to issue a ruling to finallly resolve the issue.

"I appreciate that it is must better to have clarity on these sorts of issues than to have them hanging around and causing arguments," Howman told insidethegames

"Now it is not for us to definitively tell organisations what is right and what is wrong but the lack of clarity over the length of drug bans does provide us with some real problems.

"I would like to see the issue cleaned up by a court of competent jurisdiction so that we can get a clear decision and avoid confusion and arguments."

Last year Andy Parkinson, the chief executive of UK Anti-Doping, claimed on insidethegames that the BOA was hampering his orgainisation's work because athletes refused to cooperate with them.

Parkinson claimed it would be easier and ensure that more information would become available if everyone followed the standards set by WADA which have established a two-year suspension as the fairest penalty for an athlete testing positive for banned drugs for the first time.

BOA chief executive Andy Hunt hit back at the claims insisting that the lifetime ban complies with the WADA code and is overwhelmingly backed by athletes, even though it will keep top competitors like sprinter Dwain Chambers and cyclist David Millar (pictured) out of London 2012.



Howman added that he believes the gap is closing between athletes involved in doping and those charged with catching them but admits that drug cheats may always be one step ahead because of the sophisticated manner of doping at elite level.

"I like to put dopers into two categories," he told insidethegames.

"The first category, and it’s a horrible term to use, is the dumb doper.

"They think they are not going to get caught despite using methods of doping that we are fully aware of and they take a high risk that is unlikely to pay off.

"We are always confident of catching those dopers.

"However, the second category is the more sophisticated doper.

"They have got even more advanced since we came along so that they can continue to avoid detection.

"That is a much bigger problem for us.

"It takes place at the high, elite level of sport where people have a lot of money and a lot of equipment where things can be done in the most sophisticated fashion.

"It’s very hard to catch the sophisticated doper and while we feel we are closing the gap on them, they are still ahead and to be honest, they may always be ahead.

"I mean, it would be stupid of me to say that we will ever have a clean Olympic Games.

"Unfortunately, cheating is something human beings have a weakness for in all fields, not just in sport."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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