Italian player Eduardo Carlos Morgado Oliveira gets a two-year ban for testing positive for anabolic steroids (specifically nandrolone) metabolites. The doping control that got Oliveira took place on Oct.18 in the match for third place between Russia and Italy at the FIFA Futsal World Cup Brazil 2008.

Nandrolone is most commonly sold commercially as Deca-Durabolin (decanoate ester) and Durabolin (phenylproprionate ester). Nandrolone is used in the treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women and certain forms of anemias. .

Liberian player Melvin King receives a five-month ban after testing positive for a glucocorticoid at a doping control after the match of the preliminary competition of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The match took place between Senegal and Liberia on 21 June 2008.

A glucorticoid is a steroid hormone that is used a performance-enhancing drug since it can is involved in the metabolism of carbohydrates, protein, and fat in the body.

Gene doping had been an issue at the 2008 Olympics back in August when a German documentary showed evidence of this practice in the host country. The documentary suggested that despite attempts by anti-doping authorities to stop the use of anabolic steroids and EPO, this class of drugs were still widely available to athletes in China. And what’s worse (or better, to those who just didn’t want to lose) the biotechnology of gene doping seemed to be available also as one Chinese doctor offered the service to a disguised reporter.

Now, gene doping is being spotlighted again, not in China but in Switzerland, as a scientific research and a sci-fi novel tackled the controversial issue.

Professor Max Gassmann of Zurich University’s Institute of Veterinary Physiology has manipulated the erythropoietin (EPO) gene of mice to produce more oxygen carrying red blood cells. This process is likely viable to be transferred to humans, according to an article by Swissinfo.

The professor says that athletes may not be practicing gene doping yet; however, it’s definitely on the horizon as some people may be carrying out clinical trials similar to his precisely to determine the potentials of gene manipulation.

“I can hardly imagine that we had a gene doping cheat winning at the Beijing Olympics,” he told Swissinfo. “But there has been doping throughout history and if gene doping becomes viable then you cannot stop it, because people want to win.”

Author Beat Glogger, meanwhile, has taken the theory to a more mainstream stage by writing a sci-fi thriller entitled “Run For My Life”, which is about genetically modified athletes. Both Glogger and Gassmann contributed to a Swiss sports ministry document warning about the risks of gene doping.

From Swissinfo:

The fledgling medical science of gene therapy has already produced some breakthrough results, but still has some way to go before it is perfected. It involves the insertion of genes into the patient’s cells and tissues.

Scientists hope the treatment can one day become a standard cure for patients suffering from such conditions as immune deficiency and muscular dystrophy.

One method of introducing healthy genes into the body is by injecting manipulated viruses that “infect” cells with the properly functioning genes rather than their own harmful genetic material.

Another method is to extract cells from the patient’s body, insert the gene and then put the cells back. White blood cells or bone marrow cells are commonly used in this technique.
It is also theoretically possible to insert healthy genes into the sperm or eggs of patients with genetically transmitted conditions. However, this practice has been banned in many countries on ethical grounds.

The next big step in gene therapy is the discovery of how to control the activity of genes once they have been introduced into the body. Scientists are working on drugs that could switch the genes on and off.

WADA is thankful that more than 100 countries have signed the UNESCO Convention on Doping in Sport. The number has now reached 102, according to AP report, and WADA believes it can generate more support to eradicate use of anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs among athletes.

“This is setting the standards very high. To the world governments that have shown much strength in fighting the scourge of doping, thank you from WADA,” said WADA’s David Howman said Wednesday. “We’ve reached 100, in fact we’re starting to get over 100.”

“We still have a long way to go,” he added, “(Doping) is too easy in many countries because there are not strong enough laws,” Howman said. “Let’s enhance the fight through legislation.”

More from AP:

UNESCO director-general Koichiro Matsuura called reaching 100 “an important step in the world fight against doping in sport” and said “the accent has been put on a dedication against doping, in both the scientific and the medical domain.”
Adopted in Paris on Oct. 19, 2005 by the UNESCO General Conference, the convention originally required 30 governments to sign up for it to work, but by July, 2006, only 14 countries had signed it.
“Let’s not forget on these hard fights to stop and smell the roses,” Howman said. “This is a chance to celebrate. It’s a significant world record. Let’s look forward to the next 90.”
Ratifying the convention helps a member nation prevent cross-border trafficking of sporting drugs, support a national drug-testing program and withhold funding from athletes caught cheating.
But WADA does not have the legal authority to force an increase in the amount of testing, and relies on governments to pressure their national anti-doping agencies to do so.
The United States became the 94th country to ratify the agreement on Aug. 25. The 100th was Paraguay on Oct. 13 and the most recent was Uganda on Oct. 27.

WADA was created by the International Olympic Committee to oversee the fight against drugs in sport.

At present, WADA receives budgetary support from different countries and also form the IOC. Initially, the IOC was the sole financial resource of the agency.

WADA is currently chaired by former Australian finance minister John Fahey and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.

The 300 doping test results reported to be missing by a group of independent observers have now been accounted for. The International Olympic Committee said they have the said results all along and assured the public and the World Anti-Doping Agency that all were negative for anabolic steroids and other prohibited compounds.

It was last week that the independent observers furnished WADA their final report which included their discovery of missing test results. The 10-man team was appointed by WADA to review Beijing drug-testing program.

“Once the laboratory had apparently delivered all reports to the IO (independent observer) team, it transpired that around 300 test results were missing in comparison to the doping control forms,” the WADA report said.

The incident had put the Beijing testing program under cloud of suspicion. But the IOC took immediate steps to clear things up.

“Regarding the ‘300 missing tests,’ it is our understanding that there has been a communication problem between the Beijing laboratory and the IO team on the results of a number of tests,” IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau said in an e-mail. “The results of these tests were communicated to the IOC by the end of August. All were negative. The results have now been transmitted to the IO team.”

The team said it checked with the IOC’s medical commission regarding the test results’ status and, apparently, the IOC was unable to finish the processing of the lab results in time for the independent observers’ report completion last month.