Reports that imminent WADA chief Jean-Francoise Lamour may have cheated in the past have proven to be misleading if not downright false. Nonetheless, it does demonstrate that the Frenchman needs to be squeaky clean or he will be taken to task.

Obviously Lamour will need to declare and resign from any positions associated with any sporting groups. We can’t have the head of WADA also being associated in any way with the people who are WADA's ‘clients’ - the athletes. The potential to pass on information is apparent and is a scenario that has not been without precedent.

Manfred Hoppner, a member of the international commission which oversaw testing at the Olympics during the '70s and '80s, was also Director of Medical Services for the East German Olympic team. The prime reason no East German tested positive at the Olympics during his reign (in both roles) was no coincidence or just good luck. It was ‘good’ management or more appropriately ‘insider trading’. Hoppner traded information between his roles, ensuring that the East German athletes were protected against the testers.

Strangely, though, we had a similar scenario of sorts here in Australia, one which raised no eyebrows to my knowledge as contentious or potentially so. One of Australia’s most prominent sportswomen, Liz Ellis, captain of the national netball team, simultaneously also sat on the board of Australia’s anti-doping agency ASDA (now known as ASADA). Peculiar because she would have been required to undergo drug testing by the agency that she was on the board of. A conflict of interest if there ever was one.

I guess because there was no public criticism of this situation it went unnoticed. But the question remains - what mechanisms were put in place to prevent the potential transfer of test information? While personally I don’t think anything untoward happened, the perception is that Australia’s anti-doping system is not (or was not then) totally above scrutiny.

While Lamour may have had ‘experience’ with doping matters without having been found guilty, perhaps this should not be looked upon as all bad. His previous dealings with the anti-doping establishment may help him to bring fresh ideas to WADA. Given the sustained attacks on WADA's credibility lately, especially from Floyd Landis (and Lance Armstrong and Tyler Hamilton in the past), they could use some good news.

In the court of public opinion, WADA's stocks have been taking a ‘pound-ing’ (pardon the pun) lately and perhaps the first thing the new WADA chief needs to do is restore public confidence in its processes. The cheats and the accused have been setting the agenda for a while now and it's time WADA got credit rather than criticism for its efforts.

It is interesting that in the case of Landis, which is the first public peek into the court process of doping cases, already there are calls that it is all a bit of a yawn because of the largely scientific nature of the evidence being cross-examined, which some journalists appear to be having trouble getting their heads around. What hope for the lay person then?

This is perhaps a reason why the general public may continue to side with cheats and the alleged cheats because they just don’t get it or can't be bothered with the scientific explanations of the testing process. A symptom of a ‘dumbed-down’ society! Its easier to understand the words coming out of the mouths of cheats rather than scientists.

Despite the criticisms over the years directed at Dick Pound, at least he had the courage to confront the cheats head-on, sadly courage not shown in the past and perhaps the reason why the cheats have been so successful in getting so far ahead of the testers. Pound's departure has my blessing.

Let’s hope that Lamour demonstrates the same vigour and that with some tinkering with policies, maybe even a little more transparency in place, he will attract praise rather than scorn for his efforts. Then he (and WADA) should be able to put the cheats where they belong without being derided by the usual dissenters and the clean athletes can sleep easy. And the cheats? Well, they can please themselves.

Time will tell.

Can we expect to see a determined attack on the drug cheats? Post a comment below or, better still, write an article for Sportingo.

  • Robin Parisotto is the author of Blood Sports – the inside dope on drugs in sport