The NFL may turn to the World Anti-Doping Agency to oversee testing of players for performance-enhancing drugs, The New York Times reported, one of many changes it is mulling if forced by the courts to operate without a new collective bargaining agreement with the players.
The Times reported Monday, citing an unidentified NFL official briefed on its planning, that the league is discussing getting WADA involved in drug testing. That could eventually lead to players being blood tested for human growth hormone for the first time.
"Our thought has been we have always been looking to make our program as effective as it can be," the official told The Times.
"There have been some things, HGH is one of them, that the union has resisted," the official told the newspaper. "When we get to the point where there is not a party involved, maybe we should consider what we consider important to keep pace with science and trends."
NFLPA spokesman George Atallah would not comment when contacted by The Times.
Besides drug testing, the NFL will also have to implement rules governing free agency for the 2011 season if the lockout is lifted.
It was thought that the league would use rules from the 2010 season, the last year of the expired CBA, but Sports Business Daily reported Monday that a group from the NFL has been drafting rules that are different than those from 2010 for the 2011 season. A source told the Daily, however, that the NFL hasn't decided yet on the set of rules it will use if forced to start the league year.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello responded to the New York Times and Sports Business Daily reports via Twitter and in an email to The Associated Press.
"Our goal has at all times been the same -- to operate under a negotiated set of procedures that are agreed to by the clubs and the NFLPA," Aiello wrote. "The current litigation has created a significant amount of uncertainty and we are therefore considering a wide range of alternatives depending on developments."
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