EDMONTON — CFL commissioner Mark Cohon hopes to have a league drug policy in place by the 2010 season, he said Tuesday.
The league has been in conversation with players’ association representatives, and Cohon believes a policy will be established once the current collective bargaining agreement runs out in June of next year.
“We have a first draft of an agreement that, in principle, we all like, but we’ve agreed that our collective bargaining discussions will start this year,? Cohon said of chief operating officer Michael Copeland’s talks with CFLPA reps Stu Laird and Ed Molstad.
“Our CBA ends three days before training camp begins in 2010, so we want this to be part of the new agreement in 2010," he said.
"I think we have a great product on the field . . . at the same time we have to be cognizant of what’s going on in sports around the world,? he added.
Cohon suggested that, as far as the league is concerned, a drug policy is a must-have for 2010.
“That’s our position and I think that’s their position, too,? he said of the union.
Edmonton Journal
Please. This is only a great thing. Transparency is key.
Take the NHL for example, and the suspect accusations laid on the Washington Capitals. It's something that's very hard to have cradibility because the NHL has a drug testing program where everyone gets tested atleast once unnoticed and up to 3 times. Would players really take such a risk, if they know they will be tested?
So what happens when they find a druggie or steroid abuser? You can't just release them. The league is responsible to help rehabilitate and counsel the player to become clean, at least for the length of their contract. These doctors, psychologists and therapists don't work cheap. It has been reported that it costs upwards of $1 million to test and treat a drug offender in other major leagues. This seems a bit of overkill for drugged players in the CFL, with players earning a median salary of $60,000.
This has been the stumbling block in previous player's association negotiations. If the league has millions of dollars to spend on drug testing, how about spreading some of that largess around to all the players instead, many of whom are toiling for the league's minimum salary.
The league has to do what it has to do I guess but personally I don't care, most players in most sports that want to take roids are taking them and getting away with it somehow, masking agents and masking docs probably.