20TH CENTURY PLAGUE BACK IN AZERBAIJAN

A spectre is haunting Europe - the spectre of communism." This was used to frighten children in the capitalist Old World in the early years of the Bolshevik victory in Russia. This can now be rephrased as "the spectre of doping is haunting the planet". Reports come in from every corner of the world of sportsmen testing positive for banned substances. Unfortunately, this spectre of the 20th century plague, as doping is referred to now, is more often to be seen stalking our country. An Azerbaijani freestyle wrestler in the 120 kg bracket, Xizir Durgayev, is the spectre's latest victim.

He took something but not what he thought 

This is the background to the latest doping scandal. Xizir Durgayev, an ethnic Chechen, previously competed in Russia, but was not called up to the country's national team and more recently competed internationally under the Azerbaijani flag. Xizir Durgayev was very welcome, as our national teams in both freestyle and Graeco-Roman wrestling have always had problems in the heavyweight bracket, and Durgayev easily became the national team's No 1 in that bracket. Although he has not achieved any particular international success in the Azerbaijani national team, the more recent indications have been that this wrestler will begin to win medals.

On the eve of the European championship Xizir Durgayev took part in one of the last training meetings and international tournaments abroad, in Kiev (Ukraine). Officials of the World Anti-Doping Agency attended. They have the right to test sportsmen at any time, not necessarily during major international competitions, but also during training. The Azerbaijani wrestlers were tested, including Sydney Olympic champion Namiq Abdullayev, but only Xizir Durgayev's A-sample came back positive. Increased levels of norandosterone were found in his body - a substance that arises when forbidden medicines are used. "I have not taken any banned substances," Xizir Durgayev told me. "I took creatine before the international tournament in Ukraine on the coaches' recommendation. It's not banned by the International Anti-Doping Agency. Maybe the manufacturer made a mistake and the drug included substances that heighten the norandosterone content. I was ill in Kiev and had to take aspirin too. Maybe this led to my positive doping test."

The Ministry of Youth and Sport were hoping to the last minute that the Azerbaijani wrestler would be rehabilitated. Increased norandosterone levels can be caused not only by doping but by an upset to the metabolism that can happen to sportsmen in the heavyweight categories. Because of this the ministry insisted on a full examination of Xizir Durgayev before he gave his B sample, in order to reveal any upset in his metabolism. But the examination did not produce the expected results and the B test sample also showed the presence of banned substances in his body.

Xizir Durgayev is the sixth Azerbaijani sportsman to test positive for banned substances. Graeco-Roman wrestler Xusamaddin Racabov and judo athlete Nicat Sixalizada blazed the trail in modern Azerbaijan's doping scandals. However, only a mild doping substance was found in Sixalizada's system, so he was disqualified for just one year. After he had served his punishment he successfully returned to the sport: he won the gold medal in his first tournament, the world youth championships in the Dominican Republic. Xusamaddin Racabov, on the other hand, was disqualified for two years and cannot return to the ring until October this year.

Sixth scandal

Azerbaijani weightlifters, twice World Champion Nizami Pasayev and Natiq Hasanov followed the wrestlers in the doping scandal stakes. Their tests were positive at the April 2005 European championship and they are disqualified until April next year. Sergey Sokolov, a naturalized member of the Azerbaijani football team, was struck by the 20th century plague last October. He tested positive for a banned substance after the away match in Belgium in the Euro 2008 qualifiers. Sergey Sokolov cannot return to the pitch until summer 2008.

Unfortunately, despite the creation of an anti-doping department at the Ministry of Youth and Sport and the calls from the country's sports leadership for special care when using different substances, we could not avoid our sixth doping scandal. Xizir Durgayev is a severe loss to the Azerbaijani freestyle wrestling team, as there simply isn't anyone to take his place. Taking all this into account, it is all the more surprising that our specialists, officials, sportsmen and anyone who might be connected to a doping scandal give so little thought to the participation of Azerbaijani representatives in international tournaments.

All these scandals have not only weakened the Azerbaijani judo, wrestling, weightlifting and football teams through the disqualification of their members, but have also dealt a severe blow to the international image of Azerbaijani sportsmen. It is also remarkable that every sports season since 2005 an Azerbaijani sportsman has without fail been implicated in a doping scandal. In 2005 two Azerbaijani sportsmen were found to have taken banned medical substances, Nicat Sixalizada and Xusamaddin Racabov, in 2006 three, Nizami Pasayev, Natiq Hasanov and Sergey Sokolov. So if we follow the arithmetical pattern, four sportsmen will be implicated in doping scandals this year. A start has already been made. It's a frightening trend. If things continue this way, in a few years' time we will have lost all our leading sportsmen.