Bike Doping – New Headache In France
- July 20th, 2007
- Posted by EUEditor
Doping in the Tour de France, and more troubles with migration.
NEW DOPING CASE HITS 2007 TOUR DE FRANCE
Mild consternation and major media coverage in France on word that not only had a German rider tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance, in the Tour de France, but that German television coverage from ARD-ZDF was being suspended.
The suspension was decided on as a protest against too much doping in sport, blacking out a stage in which another German rider was sharing the lead.
There are fears of more off-course trouble for the Tour de France in the coming days.
The grand event is among the prime live-TV spectacles in the European calendar; faithful bloggers and discussants have been doggedly arguing that rain hail or shine, no doping problems, or anything else will ever be able to harm its charisma.
See “Tour de France: Apres un cas de dopage, la TV allemande suspend la diffusion” (T de F: After a doping incident German TV suspends its coverage), Le Monde, Paris, 18.7.07, http//:www.lemonde.fr (18.7.07)
DETENTIONS AND DEPORTATIONS – FRANCE
Ongoing questions for French authorities over management of illegal migration; this time, about the charter of a light passenger plane, a 19 seat Beechcraft 1900, for moving groups of people out of the country.
With staff on the national carrier Air France – KLM objecting to some of their duties in connection with carrying deportees, it’s been disclosed that the hired aircraft has so far moved out some fifty detained persons.
The newspaper Le Monde reports that the plane, flown by officers of the border police service (Police aux Frontieres, PAF), has made short flights from detention centres to international airports within France, but has also gone directly to places in Central Europe and the Balkans.
Similar use of a chartered aircraft in the recent past, creating the idea of an airlift of “irregular” immigrants, exacerbated sensitive rights issues surrounding migration into Europe, detention and deportation.
See, “La Police aux Frontieres loue un avion prive pour assurer des expulsions d’etrangers en situation irreguliere” (PAF rent a private plane to ensure expulsion of foreigners without papers), Le Monde, Paris, 18.7.07; http://www.lemonde.fr (19.7.07)