December 8, 2006
Courtesy of USATF.

INDIANAPOLIS - The USA Track & Field Board of Directors has approved a revision of its existing Zero Tolerance plan that will create a system for taking action against coaches whose athletes are penalized for doping offenses. The plan, which also focuses on others in a position to influence athletes, including medical personnel and agents, was approved by the Board at USATF's 2006 Annual Meeting in Indianapolis.

"This expansion of our Zero Tolerance policy provides protection for our athletes, the sport, and coaches who are doing things the right way," said USATF CEO Craig A. Masback. "While USADA remains responsible for issuing doping bans, the Board of Directors recognizes how critical it is that we do everything we can to deny USATF benefits to those who may be influencing athletes to use drugs."

The "Registered Coach" system requires all coaches seeking benefits from USATF - including credentials to national championships, stipends, and positions on national team staffs - to apply for the "Registered Coach" designation. Individuals who in the past have coached athletes serving doping bans of two years or more, whose present athletes are sanctioned for two years or more, or who themselves have been sanctioned as a coach or as an athlete, will have their Registered Coach status evaluated by a Review Panel. Coaches deemed to be ineligible by the Panel will, if the decision stands on appeal, be refused USATF benefits. In addition, USATF as a matter of policy will decline to promote to the media or sponsors athletes who work with ineligible coaches.

Measures to ensure the integrity of support staff extend to medical personnel who are assigned to national teams. In addition to undergoing the currently used background check, medical and support personnel nominated to national team staffs will undergo a formal application process. That process will include a statement in which the applicant signifies that he or she has never used performance enhancing drugs, and has never and will never advocate, aid or abet drug use in sports.

USATF's Authorized Athlete Representative Application Form will be amended to inquire whether the Agent has represented athletes in the past who have been disciplined for doping offenses and whether the Agent (him or her self) has ever been disciplined for a doping offense. Language will be added to the effect that the Agent "has not nor will in the future counsel, encourage, aid or abet an athlete to use performance enhancing substances or techniques."

Additional measures in the revised Zero Tolerance plan call for continued lobbying to increase the penalties for drug use, continued cooperation with USADA and promotion of USATF's drug-tip hotline (1-866-809-8104).

Details for implementing the Registered Coach designation are in the works, with the system to be put in place during 2007.

Zero Tolerance 101

USATF passed its Zero Tolerance policy at its 2003 Annual Meeting in Greensboro, N.C. Among the programs put in place by Zero Tolerance were a call for increased penalties for doping offenses, an increase in the number of drug tests administered to American track and field athletes, the creation of a whistleblower hotline (1-866-809-8104), the establishment of a quarterly anti-doping newsletter, USATF's "Be A Champion" athlete outreach program, and an expansion of the number of USATF anti-doping seminars held with athletes and coaches.

"While the original Zero Tolerance was athlete-focused, this new program recognizes the reality that very few athletes dope on their own," Masback said. "USATF continues to analyze ways in which we can shore up the fight against drugs, and this new policy is just one example."

For more information on USATF and the 2006 Annual Meeting, visit www.usatf.org