New anti-doping rule to be launched

• Published Aug 20, 2015 4:45 PM KST
• Updated Aug 20, 2015 4:45 PM KST

By Baek Byung-yeul

With the rising doping violations of professional athletes, an integrated anti-doping rule will be launched in Korea as early as next year, affecting seven professional sports organizations.

“Amid mounting calls for a unified regulation in imposing penalties on athletes who have violated anti-doping rules, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Anti-Doping Agency (KADA) will launch a integrated rule as early as next year,” an official at the ministry’s International Sports Department said in a telephone interview with The Korea Times, Thursday.

“While amateur athletes in Korea have been following the anti-doping violation rule established by the KADA, professional sports organizations have been imposing their own sanctions. But once an integrated law is established on Nov. 19, seven professional sports organization certified by the ministry will have to act according to the new rule starting next year,” the official said.

The seven professional sports organizations are the Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association; the Korea Professional Golfers’ Association; the Korea Volleyball Federation; the Korean Basketball League; the Women’s Korean Basketball League; the Korea Professional Football League (K-League); and the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO).

The sports community has been criticized for lacking consistency for imposing conflicting penalties on athletes who have violated anti-doping policies.

Choi Jin-haeng, a slugger for the Hanwha Eagles of the KBO was suspended for 30 games in June after testing positive for stanozolol, a type of synthetic anabolic steroid classified as a banned substance by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

But the KBO has been criticized for the length of suspension imposed on Choi, as it was far shorter compared to that of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the U.S. The MLB imposes an 80-game suspension on a first-time offender who violates its anti-doping policy. According to the KBO’s rule, a player who violates the anti-doping policy may receive a 10- to 30-game suspension as a first-time offender, a 50-game ban for a second violation and a permanent ban from the league for a third violation.

This regulation enabled Choi make a successful comeback when he hit a home run against the KT Wiz on Aug 12, a day after he returned from his suspension.

Kang Soo-il, a footballer playing for Jeju United of the K-League, who was already under suspension for 15 games from the K-League for failing a doping test in May, additionally received a six-month ban from the Korea Football Association (KFA) recently, which keeps him from playing for the national team.

Kang tested positive for methyltestosterone, a type of the anabolic steroid. Kang, who was included on the national team, was immediately dropped from the squad as the test result was announced just hours before a friendly match against the United Arab Emirates in Malaysia on June 11. The attacker, who recorded five goals and two assists for his club this season, said he tested positive because he had unwittingly applied a hair growth product to his face so he could grow a mustache.