WADA President statement on Melky Cabrera anti-doping violation
Statement from WADA President John Fahey:
WADA has noted with concern the recent case of baseball player Melky Cabrera and the lengths the San Francisco Giants outfielder and his advisers were prepared to go in order to try and disguise his doping actions, and avoid his responsibility.
The fact that a well-known and highly-paid athlete has attempted to avoid or reduce sanctioning for an anti-doping violation is not a surprise to WADA.
What concerns WADA is the alleged elaborate scheme that Cabrera and his advisers concocted – one that involved a fake website, an email trail of fictitious orders and a non-existent supplement product – in an effort to prove he inadvertently ingested the banned substance synthetic testosterone.
The Cabrera case is yet another example of how athletes are being assisted in doping activities by unscrupulous members of their entourage.
WADA has worked closely with Major League Baseball in an effort to improve the investigative capacity of both organizations with respect to potential anti-doping violations. Baseball is to be commended for the substantial and successful investigative efforts undertaken in the Cabrera case.
WADA will continue its dialogue with Major League Baseball in an effort to encourage Baseball to incorporate into its program important features of the World Anti-Doping Code, including stronger sanctions and the ability to increase discipline for athletes who disguise their actions and attempt to distort the truth.
