World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) director general David Howman said on
Wednesday he has complete confidence that the dope control system for the 2008
Olympic Games will be of international standard.
China needs to sharply increase the number of drug tests leading up to the
2008 Olympics, WADA chairman Dick Pound said during an October visit to Beijing.
Howman, who is here heading a WADA team to monitor the dope control work of
the Doha Asian Games, said that Pound's visit was intended to ensure good
cooperation between both sides in the field of dope control for the Beijing
Olympics.
"We are not worried about China's efforts in the fight against doping. We
just want to help them achieve a high quality of anti-doping program (in 2008),"
Howman told Xinhua after a press conference in the Main Media Center of the
Asian Games.
"Already China has responded very positively and we are in regular dialogue
to ensure that if they need more advice, we will give it to them.
"Currently, we don't have worries. We just want to be in the position that
giving them the best class," he added.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) last month announced that up to
4,600 urine and blood tests will be carried out during the Beijing Olympics, a
25 percent increase from the 2004 Athens Games and nearly double the amount from
the 2000 Sydney Games.
With less than two years ahead of the Beijing Olympics, the Doha Asian Games
Organizing Committee (DAGOC) already sounded an alarm against drug cheats,
saying they will conduct more than 1,200 random drug tests, including blood
tests for the first time.
Howman said all the samples from the Dec. 1-15 Asian Games will be flown to
London for testing.