Senate to Release BALCO Evidence

In a move that could prove explosive, the U.S. Senate announced Thursday it would turn over to U.S. anti-doping authorities materials its Commerce Committee had recently received as part of a criminal probe into a Bay Area lab accused of supplying steroids to star athletes in track and field, baseball and football.

The action could dramatically affect the makeup of the team -- particularly in track and field -- that the United States sends to the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, a quasi-independent watchdog group based in Colorado Springs, Colo., has promised an expedited review.

The USADA’s rules allow for it to launch proceedings against an athlete if it has reason to believe that athlete has used steroids or another substance. Such a belief could be based on reliable evidence from a court case.

But the agency -- and by extension, the U.S. Olympic Committee -- are heading into unchartered territory, and the scope, nature and time frame of any proceeding remains uncertain.

Time, however, is a dwindling commodity. The Games begin Aug. 13, in 98 days.

“I am hopeful that, by the Senate taking this action now, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency may better fulfill its mission to ensure that the U.S. sends only those athletes to Greece who have qualified for the Games through hard work and skill, rather than the use of performance-enhancing drugs,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Commerce Committee, said in a statement.

The USOC hailed the Senate action, saying it “will help ensure that if violations of the anti-doping rules have taken place, those violations are dealt with fairly and quickly.”

Some of the biggest names in track and field, including sprint stars Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery, were among those who testified last year before a federal grand jury in San Francisco investigating the lab at the center of the criminal probe, the Burlingame, Calif.-based Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative. It was founded by self-described sports nutritionist Victor Conte.

Two Bay Area newspapers, citing unidentified sources, reported last month that Conte had told federal investigators he gave steroids to Jones and Montgomery. The athletes and Conte deny that claim, and Jones and Montgomery have repeatedly denied the use of any banned substance.

In another development, organizers of Europe’s top summer track and field series, the Golden League, said Thursday they would not negotiate a collective deal with Jones and Montgomery because of the BALCO case.

Before committing to a six-meet contract, the director of the meet in Brussels said he and other meet organizers wanted assurances from U.S. officials that Jones and Montgomery are clean, according to Associated Press.

The Senate move underscores an array of sensitive timing issues relating to the Games as well as the importance the issue of steroid use in elite sports has taken on over the recent months, all sparked by the far-reaching federal criminal investigation into BALCO. The U.S. team is due to be named in July.

In February, 42-count indictments against Conte and three other men, including baseball slugger Barry Bonds’ personal trainer, were announced by U.S. Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft. All four have pleaded not guilty.

The case centers on allegations that the lab distributed steroids and other banned performance-enhancing substances to baseball, football and track and field stars. No athletes have been charged.

The Senate in this instance acted with unusual decisiveness and extraordinary speed. On April 8, it took the unusual step of issuing a subpoena to federal prosecutors, asking for BALCO-related documents.

The Department of Justice complied in late April with the request. On Wednesday, in a meeting with McCain at the Capitol, senior USOC and USADA officials asked for the release to the USADA of the subpoenaed materials. They said they did not want to send an athlete to Athens only to run the risk of learning afterward -- as the BALCO court case unfolds -- that he or she had, for instance, used steroids.

Just one day later, the Senate approved a resolution by unanimous consent authorizing the committee to release the evidence to the USADA.

It is not clear what range of materials the Commerce Committee has in its possession. The few court documents that have been made public detail e-mails, checks and other materials that, according to prosecutors, indicate BALCO distributed steroids and other substances to a variety of athletes, including track and field stars, among them Olympic medalists and U.S. champions. The documents do not identify any athletes.

Bonds was among the baseball stars who testified before the grand jury. He has repeatedly denied the use of steroids.

It is uncertain whether the move Thursday could affect Major League Baseball. A statement announcing the release of the documents noted with precision that it related to “the involvement [with BALCO] of U.S. Olympic sport athletes.”

Baseball -- and, for that matter, football -- were not mentioned. Moreover, the USADA currently has no oversight authority over Major League Baseball or the NFL.

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ON THE TRAIL

* May/June 2003 --The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) receives an anonymous phone call from someone claiming to be a “high-profile coach” who has evidence of an undetectable steroid, THG.

* Sept. 3 -- Federal and local law enforcement officers raid the headquarters of Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, a Burlingame, Calif., company founded by Victor Conte.

* Oct. 16 -- USADA announces THG’s existence, revealing that an unstated number of athletes have tested positive.

* Feb. 12 -- Conte and three others are charged by a federal grand jury with illegally distributing performance-enhancing drugs to athletes.

* May 6 -- The Senate agrees to release to the USADA evidence that the Commerce Committee has collected on the use of banned performance-enhancing drugs among athletes.

From Staff and Wire Services