Golf: Olympics to prompt drug tests in Asia

Asian golfers will face drug tests in the run-up to the 2016 Olympics.

SINGAPORE: Asian golfers will face drug tests for the first time in the run-up to the 2016 Olympics but officials played down the likelihood of a major problem despite serious scandals in other sports.

As the Asian Tour, the region’s biggest circuit, heads into its 10th season, executive chairman Kyi Hla Han said testing was yet to be introduced, but could start next year in tune with demands from the International Olympic Committee.

“If the players are going to qualify for the Olympics they’re going to have to go through testing,” he told AFP last week. “It’s hard to tell from a golf point of view what drugs are performance-enhancing or not. I think as the governing bodies we’re not sure whether they’re performance-enhancing or not but I think we’re all in agreement that we will comply with the enforcement regulations.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 21^st, 2013.