Anti-doping committee resigns

THE HEAD of the Cyprus National Anti-Doping Committee and the members of the committee have announced their resignation following a series of conflicts with the Cyprus Sports Organisation (CSP).

Committee head Dr Evagoras Nicolaides said the resignation was due to the CSP’s counter-productive attitude towards the committee and constant undermining of their anti-doping efforts.

Dr Nicolaides added that the CSP had for some time been deliberately delaying initiatives set by the committee, in what he described as “a direct sabotage of our efforts”, and furthermore accused CSP members of being susceptible to corruption.

President of the CSP Nikos Kartakoulis struck back at the accusations, saying that the committee’s labours had never been hindered. He admitted that problems had occurred in the past, for which the CSP could not be held liable.

Kartakoulis announced that the recruitment of new committee members was already in progress and he expected them to be in operation in three to four months.

“In the meantime, a temporary committee will be appointed to deal with anti-doping related issues,” said Kartoulis.

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