Recreational athletes have been granted at least a month's reprieve from Island-wide random drug testing.

But no such luck for Bermuda's international competitors, who in two weeks will be subject to some of the stiffest drug-free sports penalties in the world.

The April 1 kickoff of unannounced testing for competitors in every sport has been delayed "for another month or two'' while the database of athletes is completed, Ministry of Youth and Sports director Anthony Roberts said yesterday.

The confidential database, developed from responses to a controversial Ministry survey undertaken over the past several months, will hold basic information on every participant in Bermudian sports.

It is from this list that the names of ten percent of all athletes in each sanctioned sport will be randomly drawn. That athlete will subsequently be required to submit to a doping test, as part of Government's Drug Free Sports Policy, ratified earlier this year by the 35 national sports bodies.

Once in place, athletes young and old, big and small, who test positive could face the same strict sanctions as top competitors who represent the Island abroad.

And Roberts confirmed that the penalties phase is still on target for its April 1 launch.

But, in a more ceremonial event, the only individuals tested on that day will be four officials who have helped bring the policy to light: Roberts, Sports Minister Tim Smith, Ministry advisor Phil Guishard and Dr. Jim Bridgewater of the National Drug Commission, which is subsiding the entire effort.

While random testing won't meet its April 1 kickoff date, Roberts said that targeted and announced testing will go ahead as planned in two weeks.

Targeted testing means individuals are selected on a "cause'' basis -- where drug use is suspected -- while announced testing means competitors in selected events, known well in advance, undergo testing, often on site.

Roberts said two sports bodies have already pencilled in events they wish to be checked. Saying it "hasn't been finalised yet,'' he would not reveal which ones, although the Bermuda Football Association's annual Youth Tournament this summer is almost certain to be among them.

Meanwhile, the testing of athletes or teams representing Bermuda overseas remains "ongoing,'' Roberts said. The difference is that come April 1, a positive test means one year ineligibility from sports. Currently, an athlete who tests positive is simply prohibited from representing Bermuda at a particular competition.

The first athletes potentially subject to the penalty phase are those on the Bermuda under-20 soccer team, which flies out next month to take part in a Caribbean World Cup competition from April 17-22.

If found to have illicit drugs in their system, an athlete faces: One-year ineligibility from all sports, concurrent with rehabilitation, for a first infraction Three years ineligibility from all sports for a second infraction Lifetime ineligibility for a third infraction Lifetime ineligibility for a coach's first infraction Possession of drugs or refusal to take a test will also count as an infraction.

Whatever happens, however, will be kept secret.

Citing fears of a "double-jeopardy,'' Roberts has confirmed that names of any individual testing positive for drugs will not be disclosed. This had been one of the more heated arguments, with some arguing for full disclosure as a deterrent. In the end, worries that a positive test would result in social and professional stigma won over the Bermuda Council for Drug-Free Sports, which, afer receiving legal advice, opted to keep names confidential, Roberts said.

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