The construction of a policy: The World Anti-Doping Code's ‘spirit of sport’ clause

Abstract

The ‘spirit of sport’ clause is the central justification for the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) Code. While debates have arisen regarding the clause's legitimacy since its inclusion in the first 2003 Code, those debates have treated the clause in the abstract, divorced from the specific historical forces that shaped its creation. The aims of this paper are to highlight specific events that influenced the creation of the ‘spirit of sport’ clause and summarise the roles and motivations of those individuals who created it. Based on archival documents, secondary sources, and interviews with people who played important roles in the creation of the clause, specific historical events from 1988 to 2003 shaped the creation of the ‘spirit of sport’. Events in Canada were crucial, including Ben Johnson's famous 1988 victory in the Summer Olympic Games and the ensuing ‘Dubin Inquiry’ into the state of Canadian sport. The Inquiry led to the creation of the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) and the CCES's “spirit of sport” campaign. While the campaign itself lived a relatively short life, the language from it was transferred to WADA's Code as the organization's ‘Code Project Team’ prepared the Code between 2000 and 2003. Grappling with problems and inconsistencies in existing anti-doping policies, the ‘spirit of sport’ language provided a way of dealing with those issues while simultaneously promoting a ‘values-based’ image of sport. This paper presents this history and draws implications regarding the ‘spirit of sport's’ legitimacy as the foundation for anti-doping policy.