Bodybuilders to battle antidoping body

Bodybuilding South Africa (BBSA) is taking legal action against the statutory South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS) over a years-old R300,000 fine and threemonth suspension.

The first point of contest, however, likely to be over jurisdiction.

SAIDS say their decisions must be taken to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland, an expensive option which starts with a €5,000 (more than R93,000) deposit to get onto the roll.

BBSA is arguing that SAIDS is a government body and therefore should fall under the country’s laws. BBSA president Wayne Price said the sanction was unfair because the body shouldn’t be punished for what individual athletes did in private.

He added the fine was expensive for an organisation with an annual turnover of about R800,000, most of which was spent on development and travelling costs for athletes to compete abroad. “This is money getting taken away from the athletes.”

But SAIDS CEO Khalid Galant said the repeated high number of positives at every event, which consistently averaged over 80% of tests conducted, warranted action for lack of compliance. From 2017 to 2022 it had topped 50%, the threshold listed in article 12.2.1 of the SAIDS anti-doping rules which state that “SAIDS may levy a fine against the national federation”.

Governing bodies are held responsible for the conduct of their athletes

Price argues that the use of the word “may” suggests discretion, adding that BBSA had not contravened doping regulations. Galant said this was a compliance issue, not a doping violation.

At the 2017 South African championships, 11 out of 12 tests came back positive. Last year the figure was nine out of 15, Galant said, although Price said he was aware of eight. “All governing bodies are held responsible for the conduct of their athletes,” Galant said, adding that bodybuilders were testing positive for several substances.

“You’re talking 10 steroids with a couple of stimulants, so you can’t come with contamination or ‘I took a supplement’ when you have 10 different steroids and a couple of diuretics or stimulants in it.”

Galant said the fine was calculated on the costs of the tests conducted.

Price said a major problem was that many banned bodybuilders continued competing for private bodybuilding organisations, which were beyond SAIDS’s jurisdiction. “We get punished while the athletes carry on.”

Two bodybuilders — one who competes naturally and the other banned for doping — told the Sunday Times drugs were rife in the sport. “Unfortunately most athletes do dope,” said Adele Jacobs, a 2019 South African champion who has continued competing despite battling colon cancer.

“Most of them are not clued up when it comes to their bodies and health. Natural bodybuilding takes longer and the taper is tricky because if you do it too quickly you lose muscle ... It [the sport] really consumes you because you have to be training all the time.”

The other athlete, who asked not to be named, said his coach had sent him for regular blood tests to ensure his body was coping with the drugs, although too few took such precautions, he added.

Price believed the lower hit rate at the 2022 national championships was testament to the anti-doping education he was conducting in conjunction with SAIDS officials.

Galant countered that BBSA’s education programme before SAIDS got involved was focused on not getting caught, rather than not doping, a charge Price denied.

The matter has been raised in Parliament, with SAIDS saying it had instructed lawyers to collect the cash.