A senior World Anti-Doping Agency executive said Wednesday that doping sanctions should remain the same for everyone, two days after WADA challenged the British Olympic Association's lifetime ban for athletes who have served doping suspensions.
WADA went to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to stop the BOA from enforcing lifetime bans.
''WADA's mandate has always been to harmonize the fight against doping in sport,'' said Frederic Donze, WADA's European director, at a World Sports Law conference. ''We are speaking of the strength of having global harmonized tools such as the world anti-doping code.
''This is really the rationale behind everything we do at WADA.''
The BOA is the only Olympic body to have such a rule, but it could be forced to scrap it before the London Games if the CAS ruling goes in WADA's favor next month.
The same CAS panel that heard Monday's case also threw out an International Olympic Committee rule last year barring athletes with doping suspensions of more than six months from the next games. The IOC's defeat at CAS was followed by WADA declaring Britain ''noncompliant'' with its global code.
The British code is being reviewed, with a consultation phase ahead of a new version possibly approved next year.
''The reality is that in order for the code to be upheld before courts, be they civil or sports courts, it must respect principles of proportionality and human rights, and the general principles of law,'' Donze said.
