The International Swimming Federation (FINA) has found no positive case in the first week of the ongoing 2011 FINA World Championships, said FINA officials?in Shanghai?on Saturday.
“There have been no positive tests yet,” said FINA Doping Control Review Bureau (DCRB) chairman Doctor Andrew Pipe. “We would be doing several hundreds tests. By the end of today, there would have been 115 tests.”
Pipe added that the FINA were considering introducing a blood passport for swimmers.
“Clearly, blood tests in isolation really do not contribute very significantly to effective anti-doping program. Blood testing should be conducted with ongoing programs such as monitoring the profile of athletes,” he said. “In that way, intelligence testing can be undertaken.”
“As a consequence, our discussion of a proposal, a proposal called athlete biological passport program, is being considered. I am confident the progress will be made in that direction.”
Cornel Marculescu, the executive director of the FINA, confirmed that the world swimming governing body had accepted the ruling of the Court of Arbitration in Sport to allow Brazilian swimmer Cesar Cielo to compete at the World Championships, even though he tested positive for a prohibited substance.
“The only thing we can say is that we have done our job,” he said. “The court of Arbitration for Sport decision is final, so the only thing we can say is we have accepted the decision.”