With the recent revelation that Drug Cheat, Tim Montgomery, is to be convicted on charges involving cheque fraud makes you again wonder if those who cheat to get ahead in sport are just plain criminal at heart.
When Italy made drug cheating equivalent to fraud with the same punishment to be meted out to drug cheats as those who commit the crime of fraud, I for one was all for it. Those who take drugs to get ahead mainly do so for monetary gain and in my opinion they are no better than criminals.
With the Montgomery case, a jail term seems to be the written result if stuck to by the judge on the case. Jail all to often does not provide a suitable solution and often leads to a petty thief moving onto things more criminal in activity.
How are we to stem the tide of drug use in sport if we do not punish the perpetrators effectively?
Montgomery had this to say: “I sincerely regret the role I played in this unfortunate episode,” and “I have disappointed many people, and for that I am truly sorry.”
Unfortunately, for the former athlete this isn't a plea he is making in front of those who govern athletics but to those who hold the keys to the big house and he is unlikely to get away with simply being banned from the sport for 2 years.
Again and again we see big names plain and unashamedly striking a deal, and often a deal that leads to nothing in effect to diminish the use of drugs in sport or to show that committing fraud comes with a responsibility for their actions.
I for one cannot openly speak of solutions however I do believe that 3rd party involvement, the suppliers and managers involved should be more harshly punished than the athlete.
Is this an example of a Gallery of Cheats?
To this day I find the most heavily punished persons in the sport to have been Ben Johnson and his coach, Charlie Francis. In effect they were punished for telling the truth about the state of the sport, of course Johnson did himself no favours by being caught a 2nd time and inretrospect got what he deserved.
Hopefully Dick Pound, Head of WADA, is more adept in providing solutions than I am
TheEd
