ZERO TOLERANCE FOR CHEATS
COMMONWEALTH Games organising committee chairman Peter Beattie says cheating is un-Australian and will not be tolerated during the Gold Coast event.
In the wake of the cricketing ball tampering scandal Mr Beattie, who is also the ARL chairman, also foreshadowed tough action against NRL sides which breached the salary cap.
Mr Beattie met with Commonwealth Games Federation president Louise Martin, who in her first major interview since arriving on the Coast warned that the toughest ever screening measures against drug cheats would be introduced at the Games.
Mr Beattie told the Bulletin: “You have to have honesty and integrity. It’s like the NRL with the salary cap. You have to stick to the rules. People hate cheats.”
The ARL chairman would not comment on whether Cricket Australia should sack captain Steve Smith after the leadership group used sticky tape to illegally alter a ball on day three of the Test match against South Africa in Cape Town.
But he made it clear what the standards were for Games athletes and the NRL players, and how Australians viewed cheats.
“They hate cheating. It doesn’t matter who it is, and that’s why in the NRL we have to enforce standards,” he said.
Mr Beattie strongly supported Ms Martin after she explained the ethos of the Games was a level playing field for athletes who triumphed through skill and hard work.
“I wouldn’t give them (Cricket Australia) advice but I know the community these days expect the highest possible standards in honesty and integrity, and if you depart from that you lose fans,” he said.
“That’s why at the Olympics you saw the most popular Australian call out the Chinese cheat. Australians don’t like it, that’s why these Games will be fair.”
Swimmer Mack Horton, after winning a gold medal in the 400m freestyle in 2016, accused Chinese runner-up Sun Yang of being a drug cheat.
Ms Martin said each athlete arriving had been forewarned about drugs, cheating and tampering in their individual sports.
“We have to make sure that they compete with integrity. They have to make sure that they’re clean, that they’re not doping, that they would not do anything that would affect anybody else,” Ms Martin said.
“We have to make sure that the athletes compete with distinction and compete believing in the effort that they’ve made.”
All the 6500 athletes and officials had signed a code of conduct and the screening measures in place gave the former Scottish swimmer great confidence the Coast event would not be subjected to a sporting scandal.
YOU HAVE TO HAVE HONESTY AND INTEGRITY. YOU HAVE TO STICK TO THE RULES. PEOPLE HATE CHEATS. PETER BEATTIE