Players ratify tougher drug policy rules
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Major League Baseball players on Friday agreed to toughen rules governing the game's drug policy.
The MLB Players Association ratified amendments on drug policy in the collective bargaining agreement that were approved last week by team owners.
The changes, called for in last December's Mitchell Report into drug use in baseball, include independent administration of the testing program, improving transparency and increasing year-round testing, Baseball Web site mlb.com reported.
It marked the third time since the drug policy was collectively bargained in 2002 that the owners and players union reopened it to toughen rules.
Doping in baseball has remained a hot topic as the federal government decides whether to call on over 100 major league players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs to find out how they procured them.
Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, two of the game's best known players of recent times, remain under pressure from federal officials about their alleged use of performance enhancers.
(Writing by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Ed Osmond)
