Are Doping Sanctions Justified? A Moral Relativistic View

Abstract

Certain performance-enhancing substances and training methods are forbidden by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and other international sport organizations. The reasons usually given by ruling sports organizations to ban doping are: (i) doping is harmful to athletes' health; (ii) doping is unfair because athletes who are reluctant to use it do not have a fair chance when competing against doped athletes; (iii) doping runs counter to the ‘nature’ or the ‘spirit’ of sport, which is said to be to strive for victory by exhibiting natural physical skills and excellence of character without the help of any artificial products. In this essay, firstly, I will argue, contrary to (iii) above, that doping is not only compatible with, but also incarnates, the true spirit of modern competitive elite sports. Secondly, I will also argue, contrary to (ii) above, that, if the doping ban is kept, fairness (understood as equality of the relevant competitive conditions in a sport contest) demands more fine-tuned doping regulations and sanctions rather than increased standardization. This criticizes the IOC and WADA's current efforts to enforce general standards to punish doping violations, as their current policy fails to consider the social and sport-ethical particularities of the different communities from which dopers come.