The Spaniard is outraged about a rule that forces high-performance sportsmen to say where they are going to be for an hour each day, 365 days a year.
Damn right he should be. Anyone would.
If a sportsperson cannot be found where they said they would be three times in an 18-month period, he or she is considered to have violated anti-doping regulations and is liable for sanctions.
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He has already had a visit from anti-doping agents at his home on the Spanish island of Mallorca, at 8am on a Saturday. He had just had a night out with his friends.
I remember the first time I heard/read of this. I rolled my eyes so hard I could see the back of my skull. And they seem to think it's an easy thing to do, notifying a stranger --an organization of strangers!-- where you are going to be at a certain hour each day for one year.
WADA claims that recent changes in rules - which used to demand that sportsmen be available for tests in this way only out of season - were intended to make things easier for sportsmen. Now they are only required to report their location one hour per day, and not for the whole day.
Every time you want to go somewhere, FOR A WHOLE YEAR, you have to whip out your phone and inform them. If you, say, oh, forgot to do it like most humans would, tough luck.
Stuart Miller, the head of the anti-doping programme of the International Tennis Federation (ITF), said this should not be a problem.
'Except for the notion that if you provide information about your whereabouts on a quarterly basis, it's possible your plans might change,' was quoted as saying in the daily USA Today.
In that case, he stressed, players can notify the relevant authorities by e-mail, text message or even fax.
Oh, it's even better. Everyday you wanna go out, anywhere, you can easily whip out your phone/pda/fax machine and contact WADA.
Seriously, WHO are making these rules? I just can't get my head around it. It's like having a girlfriend, boyfriend, mother and father rolled into one.
For a private person like Rafa it must be a chafing chore. Sure, he is a player well known for his stamina. But Federer kept up with him in that epic Wimby final. We don't hear WADA paying Roger a visit at 8am on a Saturday morning. Rafa's under suspicion because he has muscles and his style of play is grueling. What. A load. Of crock. He can't help having a divine body, okay?
What if his football player friends (I refuse to call it soccer okay? it's football) invites him for a night out with strippers? What if he wants to meet up with Rafanatics behind Xisca's back?? I am a homebody, and even I balk at the thought of such restrictions.
What say you, Rafanatics?
This is madness. Go go sue their asses off, Rafa!!!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe this is even legal from a human rights point of view. It's like Big Brother all year long. I'm appalled!!
And on another note: Can you imagine sleepy Rafa with tousled hair on a Saturday morning? Oh.....
I've been following this pretty closely, and I really hope Rafa takes this to town and joins the lawsuit being brought. Esp in light of his role on the Player Council repping all the dudes.
ReplyDeleteFunny, I almost used those same photos in one of my posts re body and testing. Plainly, I would not want to be a drug tester who pisses off Nadal. Hung over or not, he could surely throw down.
lynn - thanks for coming! I used that picture because I showed it once to a friend of mine and he said "those muscles aren't real". Uhm.. yes it is and that's the point isn't it?
ReplyDeleteI really hope they will retract the rules or get sued, and lose. This is an invasion of privacy in the most basic meaning of privacy.
I remember reading a comment somewhere about this is why Djokovic never talks trash about Rafa - he would, and could, actually trash him back, and not verbally.
Sonja - I think I had a dream of bed head Rafa once..
So that's how I do it. Just show up at his door and demand he whip it out for a *drug test*. Thanks, Babz!
ReplyDelete*books flight to Mallorca*
I'd be pissed off as well if I was Rafa or any sportsmen. There has to be other ways you can test without having the players give up their privacy like that. Cause that's uncalled for and, to be honest, disrespectful of the players.
ReplyDeletenatch - Anytime, babe. I am The Enabler, remember?
ReplyDeleteSA - You see? Even we the public is balking at the thought, imagine how the players must feel.