There is an old law in Vermont that states women must obtain written permission from their husbands to wear false teeth. No one ever sticks to that rule of course, but it exists nonetheless.

It’s a bit like the Euro Meetings recommendation not to invite athletes who have tested positive to their meetings – none of the meeting organisers seem to be applying that rule to their competitions. Or they uphold the rule for some athletes, while letting the majority of other drug cheats compete in their meeting without even a second thought.

Justin GatlinTomorrow 2004 Olympic champion Justin Gatlin will be making his comeback to competitive athletics. Because of the Euro Meetings ruling, Gatlin’s first race back will not be in the Samsung Diamond League series, nor will it be in any of the World Challenge grand prix competitions. Instead he will be lining up at a low-key meeting in Rakvere in Estonia.

In theory, the Euro Meetings decision makes sense. Many fans feel that a two-year ban is too short and isn’t enough of a deterrent. If potential dopers know that it will be nigh on impossible to make a living after coming back from their ban, then maybe it will be enough to steer them from going over to the dark side in the first place.

On the other hand, there is probably a strong legal argument to be had on the basis of restraint of trade. If an individual’s ability to earn a living – especially in a niche industry – is overly limited, then the individual will usually have a strong case in an employment tribunal. But at the same time, grand prix competitions are invitational meetings and meeting directors are entitled to invite any athlete they want.

However, if meeting directors are prepared to invite some drug cheats, then why not others?

The Euro Meetings agreement originally came about in the winter of 2007, when Dwan Chambers was preparing his second comeback after temporarily trying to forge a career in rugby. Even though he actually returned from his drugs ban in 2006 and competed in some of the biggest meets on the circuit that year, for some reason his return in 2008 was met with much more stern opposition (no doubt in part due to the way he conducted himself in some interviews around that time).

Initially it seemed as though the ruling was some sort of personal vendetta against Chambers – especially when just months later other drug cheats popped up in the indoor season competing in Euro Meetings competitions. But later that summer even Chambers found a lane in one of the Euro Meetings competitions in Kalamata, Greece. Of course, drug cheats of lower ability than Chambers have competed in much higher level competition in the Euro Meetings competitions, but it was a break in consistency nonetheless.

At the Golden League and Samsung Diamond League competitions, meeting promoters are a bit more strict in trying to abide with the Euro Meetings decision, but high-profile drug cheats have still managed to get in. Perhaps the most notable – and farcical – example of this happened last summer when American hurdler Damu Cherry snuck into the Berlin Golden League and was a surprise winner. Such was the nature of the Golden League – where athletes tried to remain undefeated across the series – Cherry’s victory in Berlin earned her a lane in the following competition in the series. And so Cherry was given a lane in Oslo, and duly won again. It was third time unlucky for her though as she finished sixth in Paris, her third Golden League meeting – by which time she had doubtless earned thousands of dollars in prize money; thousands more than what the other drug cheats earned who were blocked from competing in Euro Meetings competitions.

But Cherry is not alone. Despite this ruling, there have been dozens of appearances by drug cheats on the European circuit between 2008 and 2010 – more than 150, in fact. The tables at the bottom of this page show a list of Euro Meetings competitions that have featured drug cheats. The ones highlighted in gold are Golden League or Samsung Diamond League meetings. With so many athletes slipping through the net, it begs the question – what is the point in having this Euro Meetings recommendation?

Whether drug cheats should be allowed – or even invited – to compete in the biggest athletics meetings in the world is a debate in itself that could rumble on forever. I still don’t know where I personally stand in the debate. As I said earlier, I think it’s a good deterrent, but at the same time if I were a meeting director I wouldn’t want to find myself in a legal battle.

Part of me thinks that if the likes of Chambers or Gatlin were to compete in lower-profile events, then they would probably have an easier time finding their way into the higher tier competitions, in the same way that Olympic long jump champion Maurren Higa Maggi has, or former European 400m champion Vania Stambolova.

But my main gripe is that there should simply be some consistency with the application of the Euro Meetings recommendation. If they’re going to stop the high-profile drug cheats, then they should stop the lower-profile cheats too. Similarly, if they are going to let some cheats compete and not others, then they should explain why they choose to do so.

Given the sheer number of former drug cheats who find their way into competitions, perhaps it is easier to simply scrap the ruling altogether? Either way, a little consistency would go a long way, because at the rate things are going, there will soon be more men in Vermont giving written permission for their false-teeth-wearing wives than Euro Meetings directors refusing to allow drug cheats into their competitions.

Euro Meetings competitions that have featured drug cheats.

 

2008
Berlin Florence Ekpo-Umoh
Brussels Ndiss Kaba Badji
Athens (i) Damu Cherry, Dragutin Topic
Athens Ndiss Kaba Badji, Dragutin Topic, Aziz Zakari
Barcelona Ndiss Kaba Badji, Alberto Garcia, Andrea Longo, Ali Saidi-Sief
Cork Florence Ekpo-Umoh
Dubnica Andrey Mikhnevich, Aziz Zakari
Filothei Ekatherini Thanou
Gotzis Lyudmila Blonska
Jerez de la Frontera Alberto Garcia, Ibifuro Tobin West
Kalamata Dwain Chambers, Dragutin Topic
Karlsruhe (i) Damu Cherry
Lausanne Ndiss Kaba Badji, Torri Edwards, Anastasiya Kapachinskaya, Maurren Higa Maggi
London Torri Edwards
Luzern Aziz Zakari
Madrid Maurren Higa Maggi, Aziz Zakari
Monaco Ndiss Kaba Badji, Torri Edwards
Ostrava Martina Hrasnova
Prague Jamel Ahrass
Rethymno Maurren Higa Maggi, Ioan Vieru
Rieti Ndiss Kaba Badji, Anastasiya Kapachinskaya
Stockholm Torri Edwards
Tallinn Svetlana Pospelova
Thessaloniki Dragutin Topic, Aziz Zakari
Valencia (i) Abdelkader Hachlaf, Maurren Higa Maggi
Zagreb Damu Cherry, Katalin Divos, Torri Edwards, Milan Haborak, Martina Hrasnova, Anastasiya Kapachinskaya
Zaragoza Alberto Garcia, Milan Haborak
Zhukovskiy Anastasiya Kapachinskaya, Gulfiya Khanafeyeva, Svetlana Pospelova, Natalya Sadova
2009
Berlin Ndiss Kaba Badji, Damu Cherry
Oslo Damu Cherry
Paris Damu Cherry, Florent Lacasse
Rome Abdellatif Chemlal, Torri Edwards, Steve Mullings
Zurich Steve Mullings
Athens (i) Dragutin Topic
Athens Ndiss Kaba Badji, Hind Dehiba, Dragutin Topic
Barcelona Andrey Mikhnevich, Steve Mullings
Chania Vania Stambolova, Dragutin Topic, Aziz Zakari
Dubnica Martina Hrasnova, Steve Mullings
Hengelo Maurren Higa Maggi
Heusden Khalid Choukoud, Andrey Mikhnevich, Abdeljebbar Sihammane
Huelva Sergiu Ursu
Kalamata Dwain Chambers, Vania Stambolova, Dragutin Topic, Venelina Veneva
Karlsruhe (i) Ali Saidi-Sief
Lausanne Ndiss Kaba Badji, Torri Edwards, Dragutin Topic, Steve Mullings
Luzern Steve Mullings
Madrid Ndiss Kaba Badji, Martina Hrasnova, Lyubov Kharlamova, Steve Mullings
Milan Ali Saidi-Sief
Monaco Ndiss Kaba Badji
Moscow (i) Anastasiya Kapachinskaya
Prague (i) Ali Saidi-Sief, Aziz Zakari
Prague Steve Mullings
Ostrava Martina Hrasnova
Rethymno Damu Cherry, Steve Mullings, Vania Stambolova, Aziz Zakari
Rieti Anastasiya Kapachinskaya
Stuttgart (i) Ali Saidi-Sief, Ioan Vieru
Thessaloniki Ndiss Kaba Badji, Steve Mullings, Aziz Zakari
Turin Steve Mullings
Zagreb Anastasiya Kapachinskaya, Andrey Mikhnevich
Zaragoza Jamel Ahrass, Torri Edwards, Hezekiel Sepeng, Venelina Veneva
Zhukovskiy Andrey Mikhnevich, Natalya Sadova
2010
Lausanne Vania Stambolova
Monaco Hind Dehiba
Paris Hind Dehiba
Rome Ndiss Kaba Badji, Steve Mullings
Athens (i) Konstadinos Filippidis
Barcelona Dwain Chambers, Latifa Essarokh, Liliana Popescu, Vania Stambolova, Venelina Veneva
Chania Vania Stambolova
Hengelo Ndiss Kaba Badji
Heusden Abdellatif Chemlal, Damu Cherry, Khalid Choukoud, Steve Mullings
Kalamata Vania Stambolova, Venelina Veneva
Madrid Steve Mullings, Vania Stambolova, Venelina Veneva
Ostrava Tatyana Lysenko
Rethymno Robert Fazekas, Steve Mullings, Vania Stambolova, Sergiu Ursu, Venelina Veneva
Stuttgart (i) Ndiss Kaba Badji
Valencia (i) Hind Dehiba
Zhukovskiy Latifa Essarokh, Tatyana Lysenko, Darya Safonova

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