Moses running for WADA president

Published Jul. 30, 2013 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Former Olympic hurdles great Edwin Moses is a candidate to become the next president of the World Anti-Doping Agency.

The IOC says the two-time Olympic gold medalist in the 400-meter hurdles submitted his candidacy last week.

Moses is the third candidate to enter the race, joining IOC vice president Craig Reedie of Britain and former IOC medical director Patrick Schamasch of France.

Moses, who won gold medals in 1976 and 1984, has been active in the anti-doping movement since retiring from competition. He is currently chairman of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

The IOC executive board will put forward one candidate for the WADA presidency at its meeting in Moscow on Aug. 9.

It's up to the Olympic movement to nominate a successor to former Australian minister John Fahey, who steps down in November after six years in the job.

The International Olympic Committee is sending a document summarizing its position on the anti-doping fight to the three candidates, who have until Aug. 7 to reply in writing.

The IOC executive board will put forward one candidate for the WADA presidency at a meeting in Moscow on Aug. 9 on the eve of the world athletics championships. The nominee will then be put up for formal election at the World Conference on Doping in Sport in Johannesburg from Nov. 12-15.

Reedie, who sits on the WADA executive committee, is considered the favorite.

The election campaign comes at a time of increasing scrutiny on WADA, which was set up by the IOC in 1999 to lead the global anti-doping fight. The IOC and Olympic movement provide 50 percent of WADA's annual budget, with governments paying the other half.

The role of WADA has come under fire in recent months, with sports federations saying the organization is spending millions of dollars on drug-testing without catching the serious drug cheats. The IOC and federations have also insisted that WADA is a "service organization" created to support the sports bodies, not to criticize them and order them what to do.

IOC President Jacques Rogge has called for more targeted, out-of-competition testing in high-profile sports.

Former WADA President Dick Pound recently submitted a report detailing the ineffectiveness of the current drug-testing system.

Despite increased testing and scientific advances to detect more sophisticated substances, Pound said drug cheats are getting away scot-free because of a lack of will among sports organizations, governments and athletes. The report cited statistics showing that, of 250,000 drug tests per year, less than 1 percent produce positive findings for serious doping substances.