Come clean or get caught: Johnson

Former Olympic sprinter Ben Johnson talks drugs in sport at the Sofitel Wentworth hotel in Sydney. Picture: Brett Costello Source: Brett Costello / DailyTelegraph

BEN Johnson's message to any guilty NRL stars is simple: "If you took drugs and you are under investigation, it's probably too late my friend."

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The sprinter, whose 100m gold at the Seoul Olympics was stripped after he tested positive to steroids, has turned anti-drugs campaigner and believes today's cheats will get caught as he did.

"Somebody is going to squeal. It's just a matter of time before it catches up with you,'' he said.

"They would be best off to talk now."

Johnson, in Australia as part of a tour to promote a "Pure Sport" anti-doping initiative, has watched the ASADA probe into the NRL and AFL with much interest from his home in Canada.

"I thought, 'Wow, this is huge, this is going to be really big.'"

He also revealed he'd been contacted by Commonwealth authorities to provide information about Australian athletes who may have doped during his steroid-riddled heyday.

"They wanted to know whether they were involved with my doctor," he said.

His doctor was Jamie Astaphan, who has since admitted his athletes used steroids to compete on a level playing field.

Johnson only recalls one meeting that involved Australian athletes, which took place in Seoul.

He declined to name the athletes, and does not know what transpired between them and Francis.

"I was in a room talking to Charlie and I heard him say that he's got a meeting with some Australian athletes," Johnson recalled.

"I'm not going to name any names.

"Athletes don't come out and say what they are doing. It's not spoken about.

"A little later I got contacted by an Australian authority and they asked me certain things about Australian athletes."

After testing positive, Johnson spent a year in denial before confessing in 1989, a moment he recalled as liberating.

"I felt like 100 pounds had been lifted off my head," he said.

"I finally felt like I could move on with my life again."

The Canadian intends to meet NRL boss Dave Smith while in Sydney, where he will headline an anti-doping roundtable discussion at the SCG on Thursday morning.

To mark the 25th anniversary of arguably the most shameful event in Olympic history - six of the eight runners eventually tested positive - Johnson has agreed to speak out in six cities across four continents.

Although Johnson maintains his sample was spiked in Seoul, he's now advocating for WADA to be better funded by the IOC.

"My dad always told me, 'To catch a thief you've got to be a thief,'" he said.

"What happened to me was a conspiracy and I would take the blame for a lot of other people. It wasn't right.

"But this is an opportunity to try and make a difference to my life and sport in general."

The timing of his message could not be more poignant, with ASADA believed to be just a month away from finalising its investigation into possible substance abuse among 31 current NRL stars.

Raiders winger Sandor Earl is already attempting to win a reduced ban after confessing to trafficking and use two weeks ago, while AFL powerhouse Essendon remain under investigation after being disqualified from the finals and fined $2 million for their edgy 2012 supplement program.

Sportswear company SKINS convinced Johnson to embark on the tour, but are only meeting his expenses.

SKINS chairman Jamie Fuller was hopeful of meeting Smith before they depart to Tokyo on Tuesday, having already been knocked back by the AFL.

"I said to the AFL, We are here to advocate for WADA to have more funding,'" Fuller said.

"They told me, 'That's your agenda, that's not our agenda.'

"I can only interpret that they don't want to see a strong and independent WADA."

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