England stars to be dope-tested

By Tom Fordyce

The entire England football squad will be dope-tested before the World Cup.

UK Sport, the body responsible for anti-doping in Britain, has been pushing for such a move but until now had not reached agreement with the FA.

But on Thursday, UK Sport's director of drug-free sport John Scott told BBC Sport: "We're very confident that the squad will all have been tested."

The tests go ahead despite an on-going row between football authorities and sport's anti-doping agencies.

Scott wants the England team tested as part of a process that also saw nearly 90% of the home nation athletes taking part in the Commonwealth Games tested before departure.

But he is also unhappy with the attitude shown by football's governing bodies towards the anti-doping battle.

The International Tennis Federation is code-compliant - they don't have a problem with it UK Sport's John Scott

Fifa has yet to fully sign up to the World Anti-Doping Agency's code, and in particular the requirement that a first offence by a player should automatically attract a two-year ban.

Instead it wants the right to choose the severity of the punishment itself.

Scott said: "We will work with football - but they have to understand that the world has moved on. Standards have moved on.

"Our own belief is that all sports should be treated the same way.

"The International Tennis Federation is code-compliant. They don't have a problem with it.

"The minimum two-year ban was already a compromise. For sports like athletics, it was originally a four-year ban.

"It is the expectation of the government and UK Sport that all sports will comply with the national policy on anti-doping.

"We're hopeful that the FA can play a role in making it clear to Fifa that the British government and funding bodies believe it is time for football to come into line."

Thrown out of Olympics

The Court for Arbitration in Sport ruled this week that Fifa's anti-doping regulations did not correspond fully to Wada's, despite the fact that Fifa had supposedly adopted the anti-doping code two years ago.

Scott said: "CAS was very clear why Fifa cannot be code-compliant. There is no reason under Swiss law why Fifa should not adopt it.

"What it risks is being thrown out of the Olympic movement."