UBC Thunderbirds football player Kofi Kuma-Mintah was banned from play for two months after violating an anti-doping rule, according to a press release by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) on Jan. 21.
The CCES conducted a random, in-competition test, which found traces of cannabis in the defensive back’s urine sample on Oct. 13, 2012 following the Thunderbirds’ 24-17 victory over the University of Regina Rams.
Kuma-Mintah began his suspension in December and will return to action on Feb. 12. For now, he is prohibited from playing in any games or taking part in practices for the T-Birds, who are presently in the midst of off-season preparations.
Thunderbirds head coach Shawn Olson was particularly disappointed with the poor decision made by the player.
“You talk about a lot of things, you lay the framework out of what the rules are and what the expectations are,” he said.
“Every day we are confronted with choices and sometimes you make good choices and sometimes you make bad choices, and Kofi made a bad one.”
Kuma-Mintah waived his right to a hearing, acknowledged taking the drug and accepted the proposed sanctions stemming from that decision. Cannabis is classified as a banned substance under the World Anti-Doping Code and is thus prohibited from use in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) competition.
According to CCES president Paul Melia, cannabis has become the drug of choice for many CIS athletes in recent years. As a result, the CCES conducts both in-competition and out-of-competition tests in an attempt to catch players who may be trying to improve their individual performance.
“[Cannabis] certainly has turned up more often than any other drug among CIS athletes that have been guilty of doping violations,” Melia said.
“But because Canada’s marijuana stays in the system a long time, it just happens to still be there when they [are] competing and [get] tested.”
Although he recognized that there is a debate over whether cannabis actually enhances an individual’s playing ability, Melia believes that athletes still need to be aware of the ramifications when taking banned substances.
“I think CIS athletes need to understand and abide by the rules of sport, including the rules governed by doping. They [also] have to be careful about any recreational drug use that they might be involved in and ensure that [it] doesn’t intersect with their sport performance,” he said.
That lesson is one that is consistently taught at UBC by Olson and his fellow coaches. Olson in particular hopes that his players will learn from Kuma-Mintah’s error in judgement.
“We’re glad that the CCES has done its job and I think its important to have situations where there are examples of what happens to people when you break the rules,” Olson said.
“But I think for the rest of the players on our team, it re-affirms everything that they are told on a consistent basis and hopefully they will be that much more diligent with the choices that they make,” he said.
Despite the sanctions, Olson thinks Kuma-Mintah will soon bounce back.
“He’s definitely distraught about it . . . [but] I’m sure he’ll be better for it and move forward and be [a positive] part . . . of society in the future,” he said.
