Lax regulation of performance enhancing drugs by Australian state and federal governments and the governing bodies of professional sports has allowed the use of drugs and match-fixing to be swept under the carpet for many years, according to a Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic.

 

Adjunct Professor of Sport and Media from the School of Human Movement Studies, Professor Steve Redhead, said it was too early to say whether the Australian Crime Commission's (ACC) report into organised crime and drugs in sport would result in the prosecution of drug cheats.

 

“What is certain is that regulation by governing bodies of sport, state and federal governments, police forces and law officers, and sporting clubs has been lax over many years,” he said.

 

“This is an international problem, where in the neo-liberal era light touch regulation and self-regulation have been the order of the day and systemic problems like drugs and match-fixing in sporting industries have effectively been swept under the carpet.

 

“Better regulation is going to be necessary for years to come as the mess is cleaned up, in Australia and overseas.”

 

The ACC report found “widespread use” of performance and image-enhancing drugs by Australian professional and amateur athletes, and “increasing evidence of personal relationships of concern between professional athletes and organised criminal identities and groups”.

 

“The report will now be acted on by the Federal Government, senior police, governing bodies of various sports and sporting clubs as information gathered by ACC is shared amongst these bodies,” Professor Redhead said.

 

“But like the European soccer match-fixing scandal reported earlier in the week by Europol, it is hard to predict exactly how many people will be disciplined by the codes and how many will find themselves prosecuted in court.

 

“What is clear is that Australia, a nation devoted to excellence and fairness in sports industries, is looking long and hard at itself as it digests the shocking truth which has suddenly been revealed.

 

“One outcome of the report may well be that we have to look at both the question of performance enhancing drugs in sport and match-fixing and gambling.

 

“These two issues, which were seemingly separate problems, have been linked together by the ACC report along with the involvement of organised crime.”

 

Note: The Charles Sturt University School of Human Movement Studies has issued a statement in response to the ACC report which can be read in full below.