Canadian sport officials introduced stricter anti-doping measures Tuesday. Then, they showed why it had to be done.
Two more Ontario-born football players - Taylor Shadgett from Acadia University and Christopher Deneau from the University of Windsor - were named and shamed after failing a June drug test conducted by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport.
The two linebackers join a list of 13 Canadian Interuniversity Sport football players who have produced an adverse test result for a banned substance.
Of those 13, nine of whom were members of the now-suspended University of Waterloo program, some have not been named. They are considering their right to appeal and have not been identified. Still, the fact 62 players tested in April, and 60 more in June, produced 13 adverse results was a call to action - one the CIS insisted it is ready to answer.
To better police its dopers, the CIS said it will have the CCES conduct more tests with some of the costs absorbed by the CFL.
The CFL, which will implement is first drug policy next season, has vowed to educate younger athletes on the health risks associated with performance-enhancing drug usage. The pro football league will also select the best 80 CIS prospects each year, then pay to have them tested. At $500 for a standard drug test, that's a $40,000 commitment from the CFL.
Doug MacQuarrie, the CCES chief operating officer, said the organization will handle the additional testing at the university level by reallocating its personnel and resources. This year, the CCES did extensive work with Canada's world-class athletes bound for both the 2010 Winter Olympics and the coming 2010 Commonwealth Games. That was contributing factor in why the number of tests done in all university sports across Canada last year fell to 202, a sizable drop from 425 in 1992-93.
"By increasing testing by 15 per cent, that means 10 guys in each locker room will be tested each year," said CIS chief executive officer Marg McGregor, noting that much of the new testing will be done unannounced and out of competition. "You're rolling the dice at that point if you think you can dope and not get caught."
The CIS revealed other initiatives in its war on performance-enhancers: A task force will be formed to examine the drug culture and its connections in football (there were no details as to who would serve on the task force), while a drug symposium will be staged as part of the 2010 Vanier Cup in Laval. It's possible, too, that football-playing universities will be willing to put up as much as $5,000 each to pay for extra urinalysis and blood tests.
"We didn't have a positive test at our school but we have to remain vigilant," said Wilfrid Laurier athletic director Peter Baxter, a proponent of the university funding idea. "We put money into a pot and maybe the government will match it."
The CCES did 60 additional tests after Waterloo officials were informed two of their football players had been arrested, one for possession of anabolic steroids with the intent to traffic. Waterloo athletic director Bob Copeland responded by having the entire team tested. The nine adverse results resulted in school officials shutting down the program for a year.
Since then, more than a dozen Waterloo players have transferred to other CIS schools to play football this season, while a second player has been charged with trafficking. Waterloo has conducted its own investigation into what went wrong with the football team and is expected to release its findings next week.
Shadgett, from Barrie, Ont., tested positive for Stanozolol and admitted to taking Winstrol. Deneau, from Amherstburg, Ont., was caught using Methyl-1-testosterone.
Both have received a two-year suspension.