Dubai : The President of the International Federation for Body Building (IFBB) has put the onus of educating athletes on the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and the respective associations representing countries worldwide.

"We are a federation of 185 member nations and it is our responsibility to ensure that our sport is practised in a fair and sporting manner in consonance with the rules laid down in the WADA Code," IFBB President Rafael Santoja told Gulf News on the sidelines of the SportAccord International Convention 2010 Dubai, which concluded at the Atlantis Palm Jumeirah, yesterday.

Santoja's comments come at a time when the sport of body building and weight lifting has been in a sort of flux after the formation of the breakaway World Bodybuilding and Physique Sports Federation (WBPF), headed by Dubai's Osama Al Shafar, some two years ago.

Since then, athletes from the country have been caught and banned under the WADA Code for the use of banned substances — the most recent reported case being three UAE weightlifters who participated in an Asian competition held here in Dubai at the end of last year.

"It is important is our member countries understand that the IFBB is signatory to the IOC's WADA Code and that one of our responsibilities is to make ourselves accountable at the NOC level. We consider that on our part there is a clear commitment against doping and this is where we need to the respective NOCs to join in and assist in educating our athletes. If we don't move in this direction, then it will slow down our cohesion," Santoja said.

"Body building is a sport and a lifestyle. I consider there is a growing action on the high-performance sport, and we are particularly pleased that there was an inaugural champion from Dubai at the Arnold Classic (Essa Ebrahim Hassan Obaid). Arab nations put up a good performance at last year's world championship in Doha thus proving that high performance is in very good hands at the moment," Santoja said.

The IFBB president urged all member nations, particularly in the Gulf and Arab world, to stick by the rules that govern sport.