UK Sports Minister Richard Caborn has called for Chelsea’s Romania striker Adrian Mutu to be banned for two years after failing a drugs test.
Mutu has claimed he did not test positive for cocaine as initially reported but admits he took a substance designed to increase his sexual strength.
FIFA’s rules state a player should be banned for six months following a first doping offence. But Mutu’s admission of guilt, could encourage the FA to treat him leniently.
,he World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the standard-setter when it comes o drugs in sport, refuses to recognise any distinction between recreational and performance-enhancing drugs.
And Caborn told the London Evening Standard on Monday: “As far as I am concerned The FA have now signed up to the World Anti-Doping Agency code and it’s quite clear.
“I would have thought after the Rio Ferdinand case and Lord Coe’s review into the FA’s drug testing procedures, the rules are in place now and everyone knows that, in terms of out-of-competition testing, what the results are if found guilty. This case should result in a two-year ban.
“What I have tried to do is make sure governing bodies in sport are fit for purpose, that’s from disciplinary measures on the park to expressing their authority on the drugs issue.
“Everyone knows what the rules are and what universal acceptance now means.
“I would expect the governing body of any sport to do what they agreed when they signed up to the code and that means two years and a ban for life if repeated. That’s non-negotiable.”
“We can’t have one rule for one and one rule for another. Sport has agreed that drugs are wrong. We have come to an agreement on the code and what’s the point if they then break it?
“Everyone knows they are responsible for what they put into their bodies. This guy knows what he’s done and for me it’s very clear.”
