UK Athletics wants world records to be scrubbed clean
UK Athletics has called for world records to be wiped clean and drug cheats to be banned for at least eight years in radical proposals aimed at heralding a new unblemished era for the sport.
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Its document "A Manifesto for Clean Athletics" was published on Monday, three days before the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is due to reveal the second half of its independent report into widespread doping in the sport.
UK Athletics (UKA), the ruling body of British athletics, made nine key recommendations, including resetting the record books and banning drug cheats for two Olympic cycles.
It also proposed publishing a public global register of drug tests, the criminalisation of the supply or procurement of performance-enhancing drugs and called for WADA to keep a register of all missed tests.
Athletics, the showpiece sport of the Olympic Games, experienced a traumatic year in 2015 with life bans for officials after allegations of doping, cover-ups, bribery and corruption.
Russia was suspended from international competition for what WADA described as "state-sponsored doping".
Ed Warner, the UKA chairman, said it was time for "radical reform", adding that "the integrity of athletics was challenged as never before" in 2015.
"Trust in the sport is at its lowest point for decades, and clean athletes have been let down," he said.
"Greater transparency, tougher sanctions, longer bans - and even resetting the clock on world records for a new era - we should be open to do whatever it takes to restore credibility in the sport."
Source: Reuters
