LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) -Major League Baseball must farm out its drug-testing program to an independent agency if it wants to regain credibility, the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency said Wednesday.
“The message to the average person is very clear: How can you trust in-house (testing)?” WADA president John Fahey said.
Despite the problems highlighted in the Mitchell Report, Major League Baseball wants to keep its current program largely intact, with commissioner Bud Selig saying there is no need for a third party to get involved.
“If you really are serious about eliminating a problem in your sport then you really could not argue against independent testing,” Fahey said at a symposium at the Olympic Museum.
He said WADA stands ready to help avoid conflicts of interest.
Selig has said he wants to increase the independence of the MLB’s doctor who runs the program.
Baseball and other U.S. pro leagues have been at odds with WADA in recent years because their programs are seen as inadequate to curtail doping.
Currently, each major league player is tested within five days of arriving at spring training and is tested one additional time each year. There also are 600 random tests, of which up to 60 may be conducted during the offseason.
Beyond the frequency, Fahey insisted on a whole change in structure.
“Why would they not go to a third party? I am hopeful that they will recognize this,” he said.
Fahey, a former Australian finance minister, took over as WADA president this year. He succeeded senior Canadian Olympic official Dick Pound, who led WADA since its inception in 1999.
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