PSC wants open lines between Phinado, NSAs

The Philippine Sports Commission chairman Richard “Dickie” Bachmann urged the Philippine National Anti-Doping Organization and the national sports associations to have open communication to avoid issues with the World Anti-Doping Agency’s Code Compliance.

Bachmann said both sides should work hand in hand to ensure that there would be no more incidents of Filipino athletes taking banned substances under the WADA list.

“There should be a communication between Phinado and everyone, especially the NSAs and the athletes,” Bachmann said.

The official said his office is working diligently that all vitamins and supplements to be given to athletes would adhere to strict compliance.

“When they (NSAs) ask PSC for vitamins for their athletes, I always pass it to Phinado to check those vitamins before handing it out,” Bachmann said.

The Philippines’ non-compliance issue has been raised to the Court of Arbitration for Sport while also solving two of the four issues brought up by WADA.

An unnamed Filipino professional boxer, who was not part of the national team pool, tested positive in 2016 and is being clarified by Phinado.

In basketball, Shiga Lakes guard Kiefer Ravena was barred from joining any International Basketball Federation-sanctioned games from 2018 to 2019 after his pre-workout drink contained banned substances in the WADA list.

Bachman bared that the agency sought the help of Malacañang to make Phinado one of the strictest in Asia.

“We want to help Phinado be one of the strongest NADOs in the region,” Bachmann said.

“We are working with Malacañang with the legislative requirements of WADA. The help of Malacañang is greatly appreciated.”