HeadLine Inside Lines
Publication Independent on Sunday Date 23/10/2005
Byline by Alan Hubbard Sports Diarist of the Year

'Legalise drugs' row coach wins UK job

The curious appointment of a coach who apparently advocates the legalising
of doping has caused ripples of concern in the waters of British canoeing.
The Bulgarian-born Krassimir Ivanov, who coached a Belgian kayak pair to
the Olympic finals in Athens, has been given a full-time post with the
British Canoe Union despite an interview in a Belgian sports journal in
which he is quoted as saying: 'Doping should be freely allowed... then
nearly everyone will do it but it will eventually reduce the chances that
drugs will be taken because everyone will know what everyone else is
doing.' This has led to calls for his suspension and an investigation by
concerned voices within the sport. However Ivanov, now a naturalised
Belgian, vehemently denies administering or being involved with drugs, even
in his Iron Curtain days, and UK Sport, the body responsible for enforcing
Britain's anti-doping regulations, say: 'We are satisfied that no athlete
under his direction has ever tested positive for banned substances, nor has
he encouraged their use. At worst he could be naive in answering
hypothetical questions on how sport might look if there was no drugs
testing.' So paddle power, not peddle power, eh?



----------------------------------------------------

....actually, Ivanov admits to being administered drugs - and as there is a
policy of personal responsibility, he's guilty. He also states that those
who refused to take the pills were sent home. So, there were some athletes
with integrity, but not Ivanov. He was just a cheat who now boasts about his
drugged-up performances.

My reply to UKSport later.


Allan Bennett
Not a fan of ripples


--

In article , Allan Bennett
wrote:



HeadLine Inside Lines
Publication Independent on Sunday Date 23/10/2005
Byline by Alan Hubbard Sports Diarist of the Year

'Legalise drugs' row coach wins UK job

The curious appointment of a coach who apparently advocates the legalising
of doping has caused ripples of concern in the waters of British canoeing.
The Bulgarian-born Krassimir Ivanov, who coached a Belgian kayak pair to
the Olympic finals in Athens, has been given a full-time post with the
British Canoe Union despite an interview in a Belgian sports journal in
which he is quoted as saying: 'Doping should be freely allowed... then
nearly everyone will do it but it will eventually reduce the chances that
drugs will be taken because everyone will know what everyone else is
doing.' This has led to calls for his suspension and an investigation by
concerned voices within the sport. However Ivanov, now a naturalised
Belgian, vehemently denies administering or being involved with drugs, even
in his Iron Curtain days, and UK Sport, the body responsible for enforcing
Britain's anti-doping regulations, say: 'We are satisfied that no athlete
under his direction has ever tested positive for banned substances, nor has
he encouraged their use. At worst he could be naive in answering
hypothetical questions on how sport might look if there was no drugs
testing.' So paddle power, not peddle power, eh?


To The Chair of UKSport,

I have read Alan Hubbard's 'Inside Lines' in the Independent on Sunday 23
October.

I note with incredulity and dismay the reported official remarks made by
UKSport regarding Krassimir Ivanov and his drugs philosophies.

Your claim that Ivanov was reacting naively to hypothetical questions is not
reflected by the facts and does not stand up to scrutiny. It betrays one of
the following:

? Your own appalling naivety
? Your crass ignorance of the situation and disregard for British
sport
? Your obtuse and sinister desire to protect the corrupt system that
you have imposed upon our sport.

So, which one is it?

Ivanov was not demonstrating any naivety - he made his pronouncements on
Radio 1, repeated them in the Sunday papers and again in interviews in
sporting and cycling journals - not just the one translation I circulated
(see articles dated 16.01.05; 17.01.05; 05.02.05; 25.02.05; 11.05.05). In
those articles are overt contradictions to the official line which give cause
for concern. Let me know if you want them translated.

It's all documented.

In your own naivety in supporting this man - by virtue of the fact that
paddlers under his care have not tested positive for drugs - you neglect to
point out that he admits to taking drugs himself (yes, it's documented), but
that he was not caught, either! You avoid the obvious inference that he, his
paddlers and the system within which he works will be tainted, both by his
past abuses and his current pronouncements. Suspicion will follow him around
and all those that work with him will be stigmatised.

So, too, will British sport in general and 2012 in particular.

The Belgian Federation dismissed him because of his public views, so there is
still some honour and integrity left within canoeing.

But not in the BCU.

? On the one hand Ivanov boasts about his personal achievements in canoeing,
yet admits that he was taking performance-enhancing drugs.

? He claims that he didn't know he was taking drugs (what is the official
policy about personal responsibility, again?), yet he is also quoted as
saying that anyone who refused to take them was 'sent home'. Some /were/
sent home, he says, so there were some athletes with integrity.

But not Krassimir Ivanov.

? He claims that the drugs have not had any detrimental affect on his body
and quotes American sprinter Tim Montgomery who has declared that he doesn't
care if he dies young, as long as he wins Gold.

? He claims that he discourages his athletes from taking drugs, but... "..I
often say to my athletes that doping should be allowed."

? These drug-assisted athletes have already denied our paddlers medals, now
they are being rewarded for their performances and are denying our
ex-paddlers coaching jobs. All this in the backdrop of the news that a
canoeing World Champion and Olympic medallist (Baggaley) has recently tested
positive for performance-enhancing drugs. How do you think our medallists
feel, knowing that they were beaten by a cheat?

? We already have an incident of an ex-Eastern Bloc coach (employed by
UKSport / BCU) allegedly telling a paddler that "you won't get anywhere
unless you take something..." - that paddler, by the way, changed his
University plans so that he would not be under the direction of that coach.

These statements by Ivanov are dangerous and irresponsible and not compatible
with the trusting relationship a coach has with sport and our young and
vulnerable athletes.

Ivanov is a man whom we are asking to look after the welfare of our paddlers,
yet in taking the boats away from his previous charges, he demonstrates a
vindictive and callous disregard for those under his care.

If UKSport is serious about their drugs policy, this man will be dismissed
forthwith. And you will resign for defending him and putting our sport and
our young paddlers at risk.


Dr Allan Bennett
Canoe Club Chairman
Coach to talented athletes
--

"Allan Bennett" wrote in message
..

Ivanov is a man whom we are asking to look after the welfare of our
paddlers,
yet in taking the boats away from his previous charges, he demonstrates a
vindictive and callous disregard for those under his care.

Dr Allan Bennett
Canoe Club Chairman
Coach to talented athletes
--


I understood it all till this bit - "taking away the boats"? I thought it
was all about performance-enhancing drugs...

Keith
Being thick again

In article , Keith Meredith
wrote:

"Allan Bennett" wrote in message
..

Ivanov is a man whom we are asking to look after the welfare of our
paddlers,
yet in taking the boats away from his previous charges, he demonstrates a
vindictive and callous disregard for those under his care.

Dr Allan Bennett
Canoe Club Chairman
Coach to talented athletes
--


I understood it all till this bit - "taking away the boats"? I thought it
was all about performance-enhancing drugs...

Keith
Being thick again

It's all he

http://www.sportwereld.be/Article/De...cleID=G8REOKV3

Ex-kajakbondscoach Ivanov ontkent dat hij 2 boten heeft gestolen Het
Nederlandstalig Kanoverbond beschuldigt ex-kajakbondscoach Krassimir Ivanov
ervan dat hij twee boten ontvreemd heeft. Die ontkent: ,,Ik heb een paar
maanden geleden één van die boten verkocht, maar wel in naam van de eigenaar.
Grote verwondering een paar maanden geleden: Bob Maesen en Wouter DHaene gaan
in het botenhuis van Hazewinkel op zoek naar de boot waarmee ze op de Spelen
vijfde zijn geworden, een tweezitter. Helaas. De boot is weg. Vrijwel
tegelijk wordt ook duidelijk dat een andere boot is verdwenen, een eenzitter.
Wat is er aan de hand?

,,Wij weten waar ze zijn, zegt sportdirecteur Johan Leukemans van het
Kanoverbond. ,,Bij onze ex-trainer, Ivanov. Volgens Wouter DHaene heeft
Ivanov ,,de boten in hechtenis genomen.

Hallo Ivanov? ,,Het probleem is dat niet duidelijk is van wie de boten zijn:
de kajakkers, de federatie, de trainer? Ik zeg dat ze niet van de kajakkers
zijn en ook niet van de federatie. Ik heb geen boten meegenomen, geen boten
gestolen en er nooit een frank op verdiend. Maar later in het gesprek zegt
Ivanov: ,,Ik heb de boten teruggestuurd naar de bouwer, Plastex in Polen.

Nieuwe versie Gisteravond hoorde de redactie dat Ivanov de eenzitter zou
hebben verkocht. De eigenaar bevestigt het verhaal en de prijs: 1.750 euro.
Ivanov, opnieuw opgebeld, geeft toe dat het klopt waarmee hij dus toegeeft
dat hij één boot wél had meegenomen. ,,De boot was eigendom van Plastex en ik
heb hem voor hen verkocht, zonder daar op te verdienen. Het geld is voor
Plastex. Kan Ivanov dat bewijzen? ,,Nee, maar ik zal het op de rekening
storten. Leukemans: ,,Plastex heeft me vorige week nog bevestigd dat de twee
boten eigendom zijn van de federatie. Plastex was niet bereikbaar voor
commentaar.


Ex- National Kayak coach Ivanov denies stealing 2 boats.

The Dutch Canoeing Association claims that ex-national kayak coach Krassimir
Ivanov stole 2 boats. He denies the allegation: I sold one of the boats a
couple of months ago, but I sold it in the name of the owner.

When Bob Maesen en Wouter DHaene went to the boathouse in Hazenwinkel,
looking for the two-man boat that took them to fifth place at the Olympic
games, they were amazed to find that it was gone. Another one-man boat was
also missing. What was going on?

”We know where they are,• said director of the Canoeing Association Johan
Leukemans. ”Our ex-trainer, Ivanov has them.• According to Wouter D‘Haene,
Ivanov has taken the boats ”for ransom.•

According to Ivanov, ”The problem is that it is not clear to whom the boats
belong: the kayakers, the federation or the trainer? I say that they do not
belong to the kayakers and also not to the federation. I have not taken any
boats, not stolen any boats and certainly not earned any money on them.•
However, later in the interview, Ivanov claimed to have sent the boats back
to the manufacturer Plastex in Poland.

New Version

Last night we heard that Ivanov had sold the one-man boat. The owner
confirms the story and the price of EUR 1750. Ivanov, when called a second
time, also confirmed this account and admitted that he had taken one boat.
”The boat was the property of Plastex and I sold it for them without earning
anything. The money is for Plastex.• Can Ivanov prove that? ”No, but I shall
be putting it in their account.• Leukemans: ”Plastex confirmed last week
that the two boats were property of the federation.• Plastex was not
available for comment.


----------------------------------------------------------

I bet he didn't declare that at his interview...

'Now that you've found me out, I shall be putting it in their account'

Priceless.

'I haven't taken any boats and didn't earn any money when I sold them'
'I didn't take any drugs but they made me stronger'

Absolutely priceless.


Allan Bennett
Not a fan of ransom


--

"Allan Bennett" wrote in message
...
... According to Wouter D'Haene,
Ivanov has taken the boats "for ransom..

According to Ivanov, "The problem is that it is not clear to whom the
boats
belong: the kayakers, the federation or the trainer? I say that they do
not
belong to the kayakers and also not to the federation. I have not taken
any
boats, not stolen any boats and certainly not earned any money on them..
However, later in the interview, Ivanov claimed to have sent the boats
back
to the manufacturer Plastex in Poland.

New Version

Last night we heard that Ivanov had sold the one-man boat. The owner
confirms the story and the price of EUR 1750. Ivanov, when called a
second
time, also confirmed this account and admitted that he had taken one boat.
"The boat was the property of Plastex and I sold it for them without
earning
anything. The money is for Plastex.. Can Ivanov prove that? "No, but I
shall
be putting it in their account.. Leukemans: "Plastex confirmed last week
that the two boats were property of the federation.. Plastex was not
available for comment.


----------------------------------------------------------

I bet he didn't declare that at his interview...

'Now that you've found me out, I shall be putting it in their account'

Priceless.

'I haven't taken any boats and didn't earn any money when I sold them'
'I didn't take any drugs but they made me stronger'

Absolutely priceless.


Allan Bennett
Not a fan of ransom


--


Thanks for that - how do people get away with this sort of thing?

Keith

In article , Keith Meredith
wrote:

"Allan Bennett" wrote in message
...
.. According to Wouter D'Haene,
Ivanov has taken the boats "for ransom..

According to Ivanov, "The problem is that it is not clear to whom the
boats
belong: the kayakers, the federation or the trainer? I say that they do
not
belong to the kayakers and also not to the federation. I have not taken
any
boats, not stolen any boats and certainly not earned any money on them..
However, later in the interview, Ivanov claimed to have sent the boats
back
to the manufacturer Plastex in Poland.

New Version

Last night we heard that Ivanov had sold the one-man boat. The owner
confirms the story and the price of EUR 1750. Ivanov, when called a
second
time, also confirmed this account and admitted that he had taken one boat.
"The boat was the property of Plastex and I sold it for them without
earning
anything. The money is for Plastex.. Can Ivanov prove that? "No, but I
shall
be putting it in their account.. Leukemans: "Plastex confirmed last week
that the two boats were property of the federation.. Plastex was not
available for comment.


----------------------------------------------------------

I bet he didn't declare that at his interview...

'Now that you've found me out, I shall be putting it in their account'

Priceless.

'I haven't taken any boats and didn't earn any money when I sold them'
'I didn't take any drugs but they made me stronger'

Absolutely priceless.


Allan Bennett
Not a fan of ransom


--


Thanks for that - how do people get away with this sort of thing?


Beyond me. But he's good at lying and deceiving, so he should fit in with
the BCU-set, eh?

Allan Bennett
Not a fan of sets

--