Baseball Chief Praises Suspension of Star Player

(ATR) As the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) works toward putting baseball back on the Olympic stage, co-President Riccardo Fraccari praised the steps taken by Major League Baseball in suspending star player Ryan Braun.

"Major League Baseball's leadership and aggressive action against performance enhancing drugs amongst its players is to be applauded," read a statement from Fraccari.

"WADA’s recent statement ‘commending’ MLB and calling them a ‘valuable partner to WADA in the fight against doping in sport’ is a testament to that. Very few professional sport leagues in the world have taken such a serious approach to doping."

Fraccari’s statement was prompted by the suspension of Braun, one of the game’s biggest stars and the 2011 National League Most Valuable Player. Braun, a two-time World Baseball Classic competitor, has been under heavy scrutiny during MLB’s investigation of Biogenesis, a Miami-based clinic alleged to have provided players with performance-enhancing drugs.

Braun isn’t the only WBC alumnus who could be facing suspension. Yankees thirdbaseman Alex Rodriguez, who played in the WBC in 2006 for the US and in 2009 for the Dominican Republic, was also named, as well as Texas Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz. Cruz was a member of this year’s title-winning Dominican Republic squad.

Fraccari remains unworried about the sanctity of future international competition, however.

"MLB has worked in partnership with us to adopt anti-doping policies and practices for the World Baseball Classic that are in full compliance with the WADA Code, including blood testing, which shows the seriousness and strength of their overall commitment. We believe these actions, which are in line with the Olympic Movement's united fight against doping in sport, will only serve to strengthen the case for baseball and softball's inclusion on the Olympic program."

The joint baseball/softball bid is competing with squash and wrestling for a spot on the 2020 Olympic Program, a decision that will be made during September’s IOC Session in Buenos Aires.

Reported by Nick Devlin.

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