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Home / Sport

Martin Devlin: Mack Horton you are a modern day hero

NZ Herald
25 Jul, 2019 12:18 AM2 mins to read

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Martin Devlin: We Need to Talk 25th July
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Mack Horton you are a modern-day hero.

Congratulations on your stance in not wanting to share the podium with Chinese swimmer Sun Yang at the recent world champs in South Korea. Someone has to do something about drugs in sport, such a shame it ends up being one of the competing athletes and not those that should be taking dealing with this the administrative bodies. Shame on FINA, on WADA and the IOC. These organisations are paper tigers. They exist to continue in existence. What they actually, practically do in terms of ridding international sport of drug cheats is minimal.

They exist to tick their kpi boxes, write their very worthy reports, exonerate each other's incompetence and ineffectiveness, cover up reality and truth wherever it's found and keep the big bucks coming in from the many generous corporate sponsors. That in fact is their purpose.

Because the truth is no one wants the filthy reality of drug corruption in sport exposed. To uncover that would also mean exposing a whole lot of officials who at the very least have looked the other way, at worst been involved and/or compliant. To uncover the truth would mean exposing these highly paid donutters for not doing what it is they're paid to do.

Sports admin at these levels is one large fake merry-go-round filled with people whose main purpose becomes retaining their own cushy positions. The luxury lives they eventually lead swamping whatever altruistic reasons may have originally been behind their own good intentions. And it's the clean athletes who suffer and suffer even more if they dare to speak out or dare to challenge any obvious injustice.

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How Sun Yang can continue to compete at world events while under investigation for taking a hammer to his own blood samples is utter madness. It is all the evidence needed to show how weak, useless and ineffective these governing bodies actually are.

The overwhelming economic power and influence of countries like Russia and China to intimidate those crusading against corruption has become all too obvious.

With those paid to speak out being rendered increasingly toothless it takes a brave person to swim against this tide, which is why courage like Mack Horton's deserves to be recognised.

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