Verner Møller

One step too far – about WADA's whereabouts rule

This article attempts to demonstrate the potentially dehumanizing and counter-productive nature of the World Anti-Doping Agencys whereabouts rule, which came into force with the World Anti-Doping Code in 2004, and to show that the rule may run counter to basic ethical and human rights principles. It begins with a critical review of an article by Dag Vidar Hanstad and Sigmund Loland regarding the defence of the whereabouts requirements. Then it presents the rationale and logic behind the surveillance regime and it is argued why the French historian Michel Foucaults classical analysis of the panopticon is unhelpful for the attempt to understand the kind of surveillance the whereabouts rule represents before it moves on to the more fruitful perspective of George Orwells Nineteen Eighty-Four. Orwells novel demonstrates in artistic form the dehumanizing effect of stringent surveillance and this article concludes with the Danish theologian and philosopher K.E. Løgstrup who argues that trust is an essential condition of human living and society.

Anti-doping – the end of sport

We will argue that sport is essentially deteriorating under the current anti-doping campaign executed by an un-coordinated alliance between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), law enforcement authorities, sports organizers and the media. We will develop our argument in three steps. We begin with a brief consideration of the fundamental characteristics that define the kind of sport WADA was established to protect. After this, we use the case of cycling to demonstrate the unplanned consequences of the current sanction system and show how it diminishes the meaning of sport before we finish the article by calling for a more rational and level-headed approach which is urgently needed to bring sport out of its current mess.

The Anti-Doping Crisis in Sport: Causes, Consequences, Solutions

The Anti-Doping Crisis in Sport is essential reading for those interested in understanding the complicated history of antidoping regulation in contemporary sport. Far more than a chronology, this book is a thoughtful and articulate explication of the problematic state of antidoping institutions, enforcement policies, and testing practices. Unlike many academic treatments of the subject, the authors provide (often provocative) suggestions for how to move antidoping education and enforcement forward toward a more ethical and athlete-centered approach to policy and practice. Paul Dimeo and Verner Møller, both prolific authors whose work has helped shape broader antidoping discourse, intentionally eschew an overly academic treatment of the topic in favor of an accessible and well-reasoned treatise on the problems inherent in the current antidoping movement. The purposefully accessible text is nonetheless exceptionally well referenced, and the major arguments are supported with ample research from the academy. The authors situate the book as helpful to students and scholars of sport studies, as well as those in sporting realms (coaches, doctors, policymakers, etc.) interested in the “politics and ethics of drug use in sport” (p. viii). Ina perfectworld, the target audiencewouldbe those indecision-making roles in the antidoping apparatus, as the coherent critiques of that system presented by Dimeo and Møller are unwavering and backed up with sound and logical reasoning. The book, however, is much more than a takedown of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). True to the subtitle Causes, Consequences, Solutions, the book aims to contextualize the current antidoping moment by helping the reader appreciate the antecedents, including political, economic, and ethical considerations, that led to the development of a more (presumably) impartial antidoping system. The authors argue that the system, which was intended to help promote fair competition and health protections for all athletes, has failed largely on both accounts. Moreover, considering the number of high-profile doping scandals that continue to plague high-level sport and the increase in number of recreational participants who have been caught using performance-enhancing products or techniques, it is no wonder that antidoping is in crisis. Over the course of the book, Dimeo and Møller lay out an argument for the systematic failure of the antidoping system. From problematic science, to a onesize-fits all draconian compliance structure, to the well-documented dehumanization that is required of the system of antidoping as it is currently administered and administrated, the authors paint a compelling picture of a system that is broken

More money – better anti-doping?

Abstract Ever since the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was established, underfunding of the global fight against doping has been a perennial issue. So when WADA’s “independent” committee’s report about the lack of effectiveness of anti-doping testing was published, it was no surprise to read the committee’s complaint that the national anti-doping organisations’ (NADO) operations were held back by “Unwillingness of stakeholders to provide sufficient funding of NADOs”. In this paper, we explore how the funding of the world anti-doping campaign and the testing efficacy has developed. Our aim was to examine if the data made available by the anti-doping institutions support the idea that: 1) increased funding of anti-doping leads to better anti-doping defined as improved detection rates, and 2) if that was not the case how the anti-doping movements request for more funding can be otherwise explained and defended. We conclude that the available data do not indicate that increased funding leads to better anti-doping if detection rate is used as yardstick. But this does not mean that increased funding is money wasted. More money has generally led to more tests, and despite the meagre outcome in the form of more adverse analytical findings the procedure is still significant. It keeps laboratories busy and thus contributes to job creation. The same is true for the NADOs. It does not seem to make any practical difference what they do, but we find that the number of employees in this field is growing. So anti-doping contributes positively to the gross domestic product in countries around the world.

Sport, Religion and Charisma

Abstract Since the end of the Second World War, the popularity of modern elite sport has grown immensely and so has the economical interests in sport. Athletes have become attractive advertising partners. Much money is at stake so it is understandable that companies are alarmed when their poster boys or girls are caught up in scandals. Inspired by a recent study, which found that stock return of primary team sponsors in cycling was not affected if the team was involved in doping scandals, this paper is an attempt to explain why athletes often maintain their marketing value even if they are exposed as bad role models. The thesis is that the attraction of athletes relates to the concept of ‘charisma’, and that the success of mass spectator sports is due to sport’s appeal to what psychologist Henry Rutgers Marshall by the end of the 19th Century in an article in Mind identified as man’s ‘religious instinct’. So after a brief introduction, the paper begins with a clarification of the antiquated concept ‘religious instinct’. This is followed by a critical examination of the secular usage of ‘charisma’ as introduced by Max Weber. Peter Sloterdijk’s sobering point that Hitler’s aptitude for his role in Germany did not rely on charisma lays the foundation for a more precise and rationally consistent description of the concept. It is argued that charisma is not something certain individuals posses, rather it is something that is experienced as an emotional effect by those who label individuals charismatic, which is based on the honesty competence and commitment of the perceived ‘charismatic’ person. Idols can have charismatic effect on us even if they are unprincipled cheats so long as they are committed to what they do. This is why athletes maintain their appeal and marketing value so long as their performances transcend the capabilities of ordinary people.

Scandinavian exceptionalism in anti-doping within sport: rooted in ideologies of social welfare and paternalism?

Abstract Why are Scandinavian countries so committed to the cause of anti-doping? In this paper, we propose that the Scandinavian mentality, formed by paternalistic welfare models, is a useful framework for understanding anti-doping. We focus on anti-doping policy and work in Norway and Denmark. We start with one high-profile doping case from each country; how it came about; and how it was resolved. Then follows a short description of how anti-doping is organized in Norway and Denmark and how their goals and means are outlined. Two particularities of relevance for the discussion are then presented: the Norwegian self-image and its impact on politics, and Danish amateurism and corrupt idealism. We conclude that Nordic anti-doping is pursued with rigour and determination, and suggest this is rooted in the Nordic countries’ exceptional social-welfare ideology and strong paternalism.

Revisiting Gustave Le Bon’s crowd theory in light of present-day critique

Abstract In establishing a valid crowd theory, it seems to have become comme il faut to criticize French mass psychologist Gustave Le Bon’s mass theory. In this respect, football fan studies are no exception. A repeated criticism of Le Bon echoes in publications from scholars who analyse football fan behaviour through the Elaborated Social Identity Model (ESIM). Pioneered by Clifford Stott, the logic of the ESIM has gained ground when interactions between football fans and authorities are to be explained and understood. Therefore, it is tempting to think that the ESIM delivers a solid theoretical understanding of crowd or mass behaviour that proves Le Bon’s crowd theory wrong. However, in this paper, we challenge this perception not only by questioning Drury, Reicher and Stott’s interpretation of Le Bon, but also suggesting that the dialogue strategy that is based upon the ESIM, in fact, validates Le Bon’s theory.