Inside Lines: Cheats may now be alone with nandrolone

The result is positive, which for once brings smiles all round, not least from UK Sport's drugs czarina Michelle Verroken. We are talking positive in the true sense here. Last week her unit reported that nandrolone, once the in-thing, may now be on the way out. The number of positive findings for the illegal additive which ensnared Linford Christie among others, and which can be ingested via dietary supplements, have halved since they peaked in 1999. Apparently most competitors have heeded the warnings and manufacturers are being more careful with their products. No room for complacency, though. Athletes are told that, no matter what the label says, some supplements may still be contaminated. There are other nasty things on the cheats' charter, too, like human growth hormone, insulin, EPO and straightforward testosterone which can all cause critical organ damage So whatever happened to old-fashioned anabolic steroids? Well, they are still around but, disturbingly, are now as much part the "recreational" drugs scene as crack and Es, notably among schoolkids. Verroken reports receiving calls from parents worried that their youngsters may be taking them – apparently they are are easily obtainable in gyms and schools – to "bulk" up as a deterrent against playground bullying. "Our firm advice is that no one should touch them with a barge pole except on specific medical advice," she says. Verroken also cites the case of one young man who claimed to need them because he wanted to look good in his wedding suit. Such are the possible horrific effects of unauthorised anabolics that it was his wedding tackle he should have been concerned about.

Stewart declines UK Sport driving seat

The former world motor racing champion Sir Jackie Stewart, who was in pole, position to succeed Sir Rodney Walker as chairman of UK Sport this summer, has declined . We understand the offer was made personally by the Prime Minister Tony Blair at Chequers where Stewart, who lives nearby, is an occasional visitor for afternoon tea and cakes. The disinclination of Stewart to take the job puts the Government in a dilemma. Should they bend the rules and extend the tenure of the popular and effective Sir Rodney, or heed the argument put forward by some Whitehall advisers that UK Sport should now be amalgamated with the emasculated Sport England? A joint body would almost certainly come under the aegis of the new Sport England hatchet-man Patrick Carter, who we hear is seeking an additional £2 million from the Government's "sports modernisation fund" for ongoing redundancies, of which so far there have been 100. Carter has been oddly inconspicuous during the London Olympics debate. We are promised a final bid decision on Thursday, but breath is not being held.

That £9 million windfall, is it cricket?

England's cricketers ponder the politcal incorrectness of playing in Zimbabwe haunted by the knowledge that refusal could cost the sport several million pounds it can ill afford. "It would have a devastating effect on cricket here," said the former England captain Mike Gatting yesterday. Hang about. Weren't the English Cricket Board lobbed several million pounds – £9.4m to be precise – along with football, rugby union and tennis, by the Government only a couple of months ago as part of a £60m handout? Doubtless the ECB will say this has already been earmarked for grass-roots projects, and the Zimbabwe readies are still vital. But those even needier sports left scrabbling for a share of the left-overs may demur.

Start singing the Blues, Oxbridge. Final endorsement that the the erstwhile twin towers of Varsity sport have been toppled comes with the news that Loughborough have joined Bath in the premier league of football recruitment, in addition to their intense rivalry in other sports.

The current university champions play England Under-19s at Lilleshall today under new head coach Malcolm Shotton, the ex-Oxford manager who also helps run the Leeds Academy. His timely appointment comes in a season which has seen unbeaten Loughborough overshadowed by Team Bath's famous FA Cup exploits, but now, like Bath, they have opened up their campus to young professionals. An added attraction is a link with Nationwide League club Chesterfield, with Loughborough regularly supplying players for their reserve team. Meanwhile Bath's Carl Heiniger has become the first of their Cup heroes to land a pro contract, with German club KSV Hessen Kassel.

Further evidence – if any was needed – of the Government's blinkered obsession with football comes with the expensive installation of a second "guru" from the realms of the round-ball game at Tessa Jowell's department.

Philip French, formerly an able spokesman for the Premier League, now lines up alongside not-so-smart Alec McGiven, the man who notoriously failed to bring the World Cup to England, as a special adviser on sport to the clueless Cabinet minister. Yet neither of her new high-salaried henchmen are known to have any sporting associations beyond football. Goodness knows the lady needs help, but what is going on? Next we'll be hearing that she's hired Ken Bates as diplomatic adviser.

insidelines@independent.co.uk

Exit Lines

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