IBAF Appoints New Head of Anti-Doping
The International Baseball Federation (IBAF) announced on Monday the appointment of Nicki Vance as the federation’s new Anti-Doping Manager.
Vance comes to the IBAF following over 19 years of service in the anti-doping industry, including a year with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in 2001. The Australia native has experience in setting up and delivering ongoing programs like the Australian Sports Drug Agency, shorter-term projects like the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and in the development of policy.
On Vance’s hiring, IBAF President Harvey Schiller acknowledged the federation’s need for a full-time specialist heading into the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games:
“Our goal is to establish a leadership position in education and testing to eliminate the use of performance enhancing drugs in sport.”
The appointment of Vance comes on the heels of Major League Baseball’s (MLB) release of the Mitchell Report – a 20-month probe by former Sen. George J. Mitchell into what role performance-enhancing drugs have played and currently do play in professional baseball. The report named over 80 past and current players, including seven Olympians. Schiller said that the report was a step in the right direction both for MLB and the sport of baseball globally.
“Like a lot of sports that are on the Olympic program, the professional leagues don’t come under the control of the federation,” Schiller said. “The fact of the matter is I believe we will be able to set a standard for all sports that have professional organizations associated with them.
” Vance has been charged with overseeing the IBAF’s anti-doping program and with carrying out the program’s clear mission that all players and teams have equal opportunity when competing in any IBAF tournament. The program’s objectives include creating a total, all-embracing anti-doping culture throughout all IBAF tournaments, events, policies, programs, and practices; ensuring that all baseball players compete in a doping-free environment; and reducing and ultimately eliminating all intentional and unintentional doping in baseball.
Most recently, the IBAF conducted 24 drug tests of the four teams (Japan, Korea, Chinese-Taipei, and the Philippines) competing in the Asian Championships/Olympic Qualifier in Taiwan earlier this month. All 24 tests came back negative.
Vance will be assisted by Olivia Bille Peña, who has been named Anti-Doping Coordinator.
More information on the IBAF’s anti-doping plan can be found in the “Your New IBAF” section of the federation’s new website, http://www.ibaf.tv/.