KATOWICE, Poland, Nov. 6 -- "The athlete is not the only culprit", said the International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach as he urged the governments to be more supportive in protecting athletes from doping schemes.
Bach said in a speech on Tuesday at the opening of the fifth World Conference on Doping in Sport slated for November 5-7 here that past experience show athletes' entourage needs to be focused on in doping cases.
"Whether it was the systemic manipulation of the anti-doping system in Russia, or the investigations around "Operation Aderlass", or the most recent allegations against a coach of the former Nike Oregon Project - all these cases, as different as they are, highlight the urgent need to focus much more on the athletes' entourage," said Bach.
"The athlete is not the only culprit. The athlete is supported and sometimes even driven to or forced into doping by a secretive network which may include coaches, agents, dealers, managers, officials from government or sports organizations, doctors, physiotherapists or others.
"We need zero-tolerance for everybody: athletes and entourage," he added.
The World Anti-Doping Code has dedicated a whole Article in sanctions on athletes with anti-doping rule violations and also published a list of athlete support personnel prohibited to cooperate with athletes.
But Bach considered the measures are not enough to punish those who are outside the sports circle and it is where the governments should join in.
"When it comes to sanctioning the entourage, the power of sports organizations is extremely limited. What sports organizations can do and have tried to do, not always successfully, has proven to be very limited and did not have the necessary deterrent effect," Bach said.
Bach said sports organizations may be able to ban a doctor from sports meet but can not prevent the doctor from "continuing with his nefarious business without any consequences."
That's why they encourage "the governments to look for effective ways within their respective national legal systems to severely punish people who are part of the entourage," he added.
Last week, operational guidelines aimed at involving more government efforts in the doping fight was rejected at the seventh session of the Conference of Parties to the International Convention against Doping in Sport, which Bach said it was a disappointment.
"It was disappointing to hear that the proposed 'Guidelines and framework on consequences (for non-compliance with) the UNESCO Convention on Anti-Doping in Sport' was rejected last week.
"This is a missed opportunity for government authorities to fill this void and to step up to their responsibility to sanction everybody who is implicated in a doping case in a robust and deterrent way - and not only the athletes. We urge the UNESCO member states to re-consider this question as soon as possible," he said.