The new chief of Sport Integrity Australia has warned that taking cocaine increases athletes’ susceptibility to being exploited by criminal groups as she spearheads the fight against drugs and corruption.
Sarah Benson, a former chief forensic scientist at the Australian Federal Police, also said rebuilding trust in the global anti-doping system and safeguarding children in sport were key priorities as she takes charge of the Canberra-based federal government agency.
Sarah Benson takes over Sport Integrity Australia after a long career with the Australian Federal Police.Credit:
Her appointment this month came soon after the release of an auditor-general’s report that revealed SIA intelligence about a “cocaine culture among athlete cohorts” in Australia.
In an interview on Monday, Benson said the use of the recreational drug was a serious health concern for high-performing athletes, who risked inadvertently doping, and that it presented broader integrity dangers to the sports in which they competed – from match fixing, for example.
“There’s a reason why drugs like cocaine are illegal,” Benson said. “Not only because of the impact it has on people’s health, but obviously the associations in sourcing those substances is often not legal.
“If players are using cocaine or other substances, they have to get it from somewhere. Whether or not it’s one removed from an organised crime group or from criminals through a friend, it’s still an association that makes them vulnerable by having that association with criminal entities.”
Connections between organised crime and sport were thrust onto the radar on the “so-called blackest day in sport” in 2013 when an Australian Crime Commission investigation found criminal outfits were involved in the supply of performance-enhancing substances to athletes and possible attempts to fix betting outcomes.
The ACC report was the precursor to the Cronulla and Essendon drugs scandals that engulfed the NRL and AFL, respectively.
More than a decade later, a growing and evolving cybersecurity threat to sporting organisations and individuals has emerged due to criminal groups seeking an edge, Benson said.
Links remained between crime figures and some athletes, she said. “It’s not necessarily widespread, but it is happening at different levels of sport and across different sports.
“It’s not just the organised crime element, from manipulating competitions or undermining events or supplying illicit drugs. It’s also that element that’s not organised, it’s just individuals.
“Ultimately, organised crime is operating to generate wealth. That is a concern.”
As the integrity agency combats gambling-related integrity issues, it has assumed sole responsibility of a national information-sharing platform that was previously operated in partnership with the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and which provides alerts about suspicious betting.
Benson, who joined the AFP as a trainee chemist when it was building capacity to deal with explosives to protect the Sydney Olympics in 2000, takes charge of the integrity agency five years after it was established as a national watchdog for sport.
The agency took on the function of the former Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority as part of its broader role, and one of its challenges is to ensure confidence in the global battle against performance-enhancing drugs.
The World Anti-Doping Agency has been criticised over the handling of positive tests for 23 Chinese swimmers before the Tokyo Olympics and over a deal with world No.1 men’s tennis player and Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner, in which he received a three-month ban after unintentionally being administered the steroid clostebol.
Jannik Sinners lifts the Australian Open men’s singles trophy in January. He is now serving a three-month ban.Credit: Eddie Jim
Benson said it was right for people to question decisions, and that Australia used its place on working groups and the WADA executive committee (on which Sports Minister Anika Wells sits) to push for improvements in the system.
“That potential lack of trust in a global system absolutely does impact us as the national anti-doping organisation because we are upholding the [WADA] code here in Australia,” Benson said.
“The public and the athlete community is rightly asking for transparency and consistency, and that is how we’ll be advocating for it through those formal groups … we’ve found it’s the most effective way to influence change.”
Benson said another focus was to lead a national conversation on child safeguarding in sport.
According to SIA figures, it manages about 60 child safeguarding or discrimination complaints at any one time.
Last year it finalised 25 investigations looking into more than 70 allegations of misconduct, determining 34 breaches of integrity policies within sports.
SIA said that in the six months to February, child safeguarding concerns accounted for 100 per cent of complaints it investigated.
“It is an area that we need to focus on and that we can lead nationally,” she said.
