12 Jul 2022

Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC) has called on stakeholders to join forces against doping.

Speaking at the BNOC and Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) meeting on July 9, national anti-doping coordinator, Fredrick Seno, said doping was detrimental to the values of sport.

He said Botswana intended to achieve integrity and fairness, hence the need to collaborate in the fight against the vice.

“To achieve our mission, we need all stakeholders and we also need to commit to a clean field of play. So it is critical for the sport leadership to be drilled on the implications of doping. That is why we have engaged the two boards, BNSC and BNOC to paint a picture of the importance of involving the leadership,” he said.

Again, he said his office aimed to maintain integrity in sport by running a comprehensive anti-doping programme that focused on education and testing with consequent sanctioning of those who broke the rules.

He said the 2003 Copenhagen Declaration on doping in sport was the first step in preparing for the UNESCO anti-doping convention.

“That is where it all started. The concern was the prevalence of using prohibited substances by sport men and women,” he said.

For her part, anti-doping lead educator, Basadi Akoonyatse, said sport by its nature was highly competitive and as a result, athletes and their support personnel wanted to win.

“In so doing, they do whatever they can including violating anti-doping rules in order to win. But doping violates the values of sport and is also a public health issue,” Akoonyatse said.

She said Botswana was not excluded in the implications of doping given that the country had some of their athletes banned.

Meanwhile, she told participants that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), created by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), was mandated to oversee all doping issues as well as monitor and enforce anti-doping activities. Ends