German lawmakers are preparing legislation that would make doping in sports a criminal offense, according to the Dusseldorf-based business newspaper . The law, drafted by German Minister of the Interior Thomas de Maizi猫re and Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection Heiko Maas, is set to be introduced on Wednesday and prescribes prison terms of up to three years for the use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs).
The proposed law would affect the approximately 7,000 elite athletes who are subject to the regulations of Germany鈥檚 National Anti Doping Agency (NADA). It would not apply to amateur athletes. While possession of PEDs is already a crime in Germany, athletes found using prohibited substances鈥攁s well as any doctors, coaches, or fellow athletes who help procure them鈥攚ould now be subject to criminal charges, as would any foreign athletes caught doping while visiting the country to compete. The news comes six months after the German Football Association to improve its anti-doping efforts by introducing match-day blood tests for players.
Absent from the proposed anti-doping law, according to Handelsblatt, is a 鈥淜ronzeuge鈥 clause, which would enable German courts to grant leniency to 鈥渒ey witnesses鈥 willing to testify against large, insular groups of offenders. Critics have called for such a clause to be added, arguing that it would allow for better cooperation between NADA and federal prosecutors, as well as make it easier to uncover the kind of 鈥渄oping networks鈥 that once abetted cyclist Lance Armstrong.