Bytagand the publication "Doping - The MPCC urges WADA to end its inertia on "grey areas""
The MPCC is pleased that the International Cycling Union (UCI) has reacted on the alarming subject of the use of carbon monoxide by inhalation by certain riders, in agreement with their respective teams. But the movement deplores the slowness of the procedures of the World Anti-Doping Agency, including when the health of athletes is at stake.
Source: CP
In one press release, published Tuesday, the UCI " clearly asks teams and riders not to resort to repeated inhalation of carbon monoxide ", while making an official request to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) " to take a position on the use of this method by athletes ».
Less than a month ago, during his General Assembly, the MPCC has alerted the public and the authorities of our sport of its concern regarding this recently widespread use of a gas that is potentially lethal by inhalation. The MPCC has also sent a letter to WADA dated November 18, 2024, to date without a response. Without waiting, the MPCC advised against " strongly the use of this technique, while waiting for it to be banned ". Regarding the World Anti-Doping Agency, the MPCC also regrets that its letter of June 12, 2024 warning about the use of Tapentadol (analgesic known to be more powerful than Tramadol), which it is requesting to be banned, did not elicit a clear position from the international body, even though this drug has since been included in its "monitoring program".
The MPCC recalls for all useful purposes two regrettable precedents:
⁃ It took more than 10 years to convince the AMA to include Tramadol on the list of banned products, while the doctors of the MPCC member teams had committed to no longer prescribing it to their riders from 2013.
⁃ Since 2019, the MPCC has been demanding a clear position from WADA on the effects of ketones in sports practice. Five years later, we are still at the same point, since WADA refuses to make a decision until no scientific study is made public. This scientific publication, also required by the UCI, should not take place before the end of next year, in the best case scenario.
The MPCC Board of Directors believes that in the face of such reckless behavior as the repeated use of a toxic gas or a powerful opioid, WADA should rely on an emergency procedure in order to enforce the precautionary principle when a practice or medication presenting a potential danger emerges.
The MPCC also alerts practitioners to the fact that a substance not appearing on the list of prohibited products does not constitute a sufficient reason for riders and their teams to authorize themselves to use it.
More generally, the MPCC deplores the development of these medicinal practices in "grey areas" and encourages all governing bodies to create a favorable framework to limit the medicalization of our sport to the strict minimum.
