President Bush has signed into law a measure designed to protect student-athletes from losing NCAA eligibility through dealings with unethical sports agents.

The Sports Agent and Responsibility Trust Act (SPARTA) makes it illegal for a sports agent or agency to lure a student-athlete into signing a contract by giving false or misleading information, promises or representations. The agents also may not provide anything of value to the student-athlete or anyone associated with him or her and must tell the student-athlete in writing that he or she may lose NCAA eligibility after signing an agency contract.

The law lists specific language that must be included on a disclosure document, in boldface type in a conspicuous place near the signature of the athlete or parent (if the athlete is not 18 years old). Among other warnings, the language cautions the student-athlete that he or she may lose eligibility to compete as a student-athlete in a sport by agreeing orally or in writing to be represented by an agent.

The new law also states that contracts may not be pre- and post-dated, and the athletics director at the student-athlete's school must be notified within 72 hours of signing the contract or before the next sport event.

Much of the behavior already is against NCAA rules, but the law will allow the Association to better monitor the activities of dishonest agents and protect the interests of student-athletes. It also gives the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) jurisdiction over sports agents through its unfair and deceptive acts and practices power.

The FTC can assess fines with the first offense, and all fines would go to the U.S. Treasury. State attorney generals could also represent the FTC by pursuing civil action, including damages and other restitution, in federal courts. The law went into effect immediately.

'Solid legislation'

Schools also will be allowed to seek civil action against the agent for damages incurred because of a violation of SPARTA, including expenses if the institution is penalized, disqualified or suspended from participation in sporting events or damages incurred from any self-imposed actions taken to avoid NCAA sanctions.

The bill was first introduced in 2001 and had the strong support of sponsors U.S. Reps. Bart Gordon, D-Tennessee, and Tom Osborne, R-Nebraska. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, sponsored the measure in the U.S. Senate. The NCAA, the American Football Coaches Association, the Black Coaches Association and many college coaches also supported the measure.

Gordon said the new law will help to protect the student-athlete from predatory agents.

"All sports agents know it's against NCAA rules for athletes to sign with them and still compete in college sports," Gordon said. "But that didn't stop some who disregarded the rules and aggressively pursued these kids anyway.

"They didn't care if someone lost the ability to participate in college sports or get a college degree. The pressures on student-athletes are tremendous. We have a responsibility to educate our kids and protect them from money-hungry sports agents who only care about the bottom line."

Osborne, who was head football coach at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, from 1973 to 1997, said he was pleased the measure became law and called SPARTA a "solid piece of legislation that protects the future of athletes and the purpose of university athletics programs, both of which unethical sports agents have tried to damage for their own benefit."

Osborne testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law that during his time at Nebraska, he witnessed many sports agents using illegal means to recruit student-athletes. Sometimes, those deceptive practices jeopardized or even ruined the careers of some of his players.

Scott Boras, a sports agent credited with negotiating the largest contract in sports history for Major League Baseball player Alex Rodriguez with the Texas Rangers, also testified in support of the bill.

Gordon, the original sponsor of the legislation, said the law prohibits agents from working with "relative impunity" in several states that did not have any policies on the issue.

Before this law, several states did not have regulations policing sports agents, and others had laws with varying degrees of strength. The federal law protects all student-athletes and does not hurt those in states with already-sound laws, though Congress encouraged individual states to pass their own legislation protecting student-athletes from "unscrupulous sports agents."

Steroid act also close

In other legislative news, the Anabolic Steroid Control Act, which would update the list of illegal, dangerous substances marketed as performance-enhancing drugs and increase the penalties for people who sell these substances within 1,000 feet of a sports facility, won approval from the Senate Judiciary Committee late last month.

The resolution also expands the definition of an anabolic steroid to include tetrahydrogestrinone (THG), androstenedione and androstenediol (andros) and other specific related chemicals.

The legislation is endorsed by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and the Coalition for Anabolic Steroid Precursor and Ephedra Regulation (CASPER). The NCAA is a member of CASPER, along with the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the NFL and the U.S. Olympic Committee.

The legislation also provides for a review of the federal sentencing guidelines for offenses involving anabolic steroids.

If this measure becomes law, the U.S. Attorney General would have the power to exempt from regulation any compound, mixture or preparation that contains any anabolic steroid but is not likely to be abused.

Also, the Secretary of Health and Human Services would award grants to public and nonprofit private entities to educate schoolchildren about the harmful effects of anabolic steroids and ensure that the National Survey on Drug Use and Health includes questions about anabolic steroids.

U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Michigan, a co-sponsor of the U.S. House version of the bill, said that scientific evidence proves these performance-enhancing drugs pose serious health hazards, including impotence and breast enlargement in men and baldness and increased facial hair in women.

Osborne, another U.S. House co-sponsor, said the legislation was a priority of his since coming to Congress.

"Steroid precursors such as THG and the andros metabolize into anabolic steroids once ingested into the body, producing the same effects and dangers as steroids. And the side effects pose far greater risks for young people than they do for adults," Osborne said. "It is necessary to list these performance-enhancing drugs as controlled substances and make the sale of such drugs illegal. Our young athletes deserve better and need to understand the use of steroids will only jeopardize their health and set them on the fast track to danger."

Now that the measure has been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, it will go to the full U.S. Senate (at press time, the Senate was scheduled to vote on the bill before fall recess October 8). The U.S. House of Representatives already has approved the version introduced in that chamber.