Former Athletics Union head coach Charles van Commenée (64) waives summary proceedings against athlete Tony van Diepen (26). That appears from a statement that sports umbrella organization NOC-NSF shared on Monday. In a story in NRC and Fidelity Van Diepen said that Van Commenée had not freely suggested the use of thyroid hormone pills to him. The coach has always denied that. Van Diepen has now withdrawn his accusation, which means that the preliminary injunction proceedings are over.
The research of NRC and Fidelity focused on an unsafe working atmosphere at the top of the Dutch athletics world, where there would be intimidation, verbal aggression, bullying and belittling of athletes. According to several athletes, Van Commenée played a central role in this. Van Diepen now says that during conversations with Van Commenée about top athletes and their limits he “wrongly” got the feeling that his coach had encouraged the use of thyroid hormone pills.
Looking up edges
Van Commenée is said to have said that Van Diepen and another athlete “had to look for the edges”, while the coach had started the conversation about the use of the pills earlier in the conversation. The Dutch Doping Authority wants to put the currently legal drug on the doping list. When Van Diepen and a fellow athlete refused, Van Commenée is said to have become angry. “He didn’t think we were real top athletes because we didn’t want to go that far,” Van Diepen said in a statement NRC.
A few days after the publication of the research, a group of sixteen athletes issued a statement of support to Van Commenée. Last month, the Athletics Union concluded that Van Diepen’s accusation lacked “fundamental basis”, but Van Commenée still went to court to save his reputation. In the statement published Monday, he says he stands “for a clean sport” and that he is happy that the results of athletes he coached “are now above suspicion again”.
Also read: Intimidation, verbal aggression and belittling: 25 athletes and coaches about the culture in the Dutch athletics world