Sandro Donati, one of the world’s leading anti-doping fighters, today received the Play the Game Award 2007 in Reykjavik for his courage and determination in revealing cases of doping and corruption in Italian and international sport and for his tenacity in researching the links between doping and international organised crime.

Will WADA’s revised code make the agency quicker out of the blocks in the fight against drug cheats?

If there is one subject in which Play the Game is well versed, it is the use of illegal drugs in sport. Day three of the 2007 conference saw veteran anti doping campaigner Sandro Donati calling for radical new thinking to encourage a doping-free sports culture.

The ever-intensifying debate on doping that has marked the year 2007 will break new grounds when key personalities in international sport meet in Reykjavik from 28 October to 2 November for the 5th edition of the world communication conference, Play the Game.

The importance of governments’ active engagement in anti-doping was highlighted during the WADA Executive Committee meetings on May 13 2007 in Montreal, which discussed intensified anti-doping demands for world’s governments.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) wants governments to take action against the illegal manufacture and distribution of performance-enhancing substances as an evolution in the global fight against doping in sport is underway.

Two American sports journalists who face jail for refusing to name the source of leaked grand jury testimonies about top athletes’ use of steroids in the Balco case, get support from many corners of American society but should not expect much from official anti-doping bodies such as WADA and United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

The beleaguered cycling sport is breaking new paths in its attempts to combat doping and restore public trust. The German Cycling Federation, BDR, has decided that all professional cyclists riding for German teams must submit to a control system using blood profiles by 2007. Meanwhile Team CSC has signed up a Danish anti-doping expert to set up a new anti-doping regime.