WASHINGTON, June 18 — The head of Major League Baseball's players association told a Senate panel today that the players would give ÿserious and thoughtful discussionÿ to the issue of steroid use among its players, but he stopped short of saying the union would agree to permit mandatory testing for steroids in a new collective bargaining agreement. Donald Fehr, the union leader, said he would share concerns from Congress over reports of widespread use of steroids in baseball to the players association when it meets Wednesday in Montreal.þþÿNo one cares more about the game, more about the health of the players than the players themselves,ÿ Fehr said. ÿThey understand the issues that are involved. And we will find a way, I am confident, over the course of this collective bargaining negotiation to reach a satisfactory conclusion.ÿþþLast month, Jose Canseco, who retired with 462 career home runs, said that he would write a book in which he would disclose the names of players who use, or had used, steroids. Ken Caminiti, another retired player, said in a recent issue of Sports Illustrated that he had used steroids in 1996, when he was voted the National League's most valuable player. The New York Times reported in October 2000 that many players, coaches and general managers said that steroid abuse had become a serious problem in baseball.þþThe National Football League, the National Basketball Association and the International Olympic Committee test athletes for steroids, and Commissioner Bud Selig has said that he supports testing in baseball. þþBut the players union has said only that it will test the feelings of its members. Under the current collective bargaining agreement, major leaguers cannot be tested. þþSenator Byron L. Dorgan, Democrat of North Dakota, is the chairman of the Senate subcommittee on consumer affairs that convened today's hearing. He said, ÿNo current or former professional baseball player responded to our invitation to discuss this pressing social problem.ÿ þþDorgan said Caminiti and Canseco had been invited to testify.þþJerry Colangelo, who owns baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks and basketball's Phoenix Suns, said ÿthe implementation of a comprehensive, mandatory steroid testing program would go far toward addressing this serious problem.ÿ He said the N.B.A. and its players association agreed in 1999 to test players for steroids.þþRob Manfred, baseball's executive vice president for labor and human resources, said the league had proposed a ban on steroids. Baseball has proposed testing players three times each year and providing treatment programs for first-time offenders and discipline for repeat offenders. þþBut Fehr defended the union's role in protecting the interests of the players. ÿWe believe that any program can be successful on steroids, or anything else, only if stringent safeguards are in place to protect the privacy of the employees, particularly so in baseball in which the lives of the players are so much in the public eye,ÿ Fehr said. þþSenator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, said: ÿWe must send a clear message that the use of all performance-enhancing drugs, including steroids, is wrong. The use of these drugs cannot be condoned, even implicitly, and we cannot overlook the severity of the problem that may exist in Major League Baseball.ÿþþþþ
Source: NY Times
