Changes to FA Doping Control
Regulations and Procedures
January 2007
Following FIFA’s decision to adopt the principles of the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) code, the FA have amended their doping control regulations and procedures to ensure that they are WADA compliant. This has resulted in a number of significant changes to the doping control regulations and procedures from the 1 st January 2007.
Under the new regulations the minimum sanction for the presence/use/possession of or failure to test for a prohibited substance has a minimum sanction of two years for a first offence and a repeated offence results in a permanent suspension.
There is the opportunity under the new regulations under No Fault whereby the suspension can be eliminated. This is only applicable for the presence/use/possession of a prohibited substance and the onus is on the player to demonstrate that he bears no fault for this breach in regulations, however such cases will be the exception rather than the rule.
Under No Significant Fault the suspension can be halved, again the onus is on the player and, such cases will be the exception rather than the rule.
For a positive test for specified substances which are substances included on the WADA prohibited list but are particularly susceptible to unintentional anti doping offences because of their general availability in medicinal products, the player has to establish that there was no intent to enhance his performance. For a first offence the sanction can be from a warning to one year suspension, a second offence a minimum of two years and for a third offence permanent suspension.
With regard to social drugs testing out of competition for a first offence the sanction is now from a warning to six months, for a second offence six months to two years and for a third offence two years to a permanent suspension.
There is also now a greater emphasis on the requirement of players and clubs to provide whereabouts information as under the new system if a testing team arrive and the player is not where the whereabouts information stated he would be and if there is no good reason for his absence then this will be deemed a missed test. If a player commits three missed tests within an eighteen month period this will be a breach of the regulations and result in a minimum three month suspension. There is also a requirement for any players who are taking prescribed medicines which contain a prohibited substance to obtain a Therapeutic Use Exception (TUE) before they use the product. If the product contains a banned substance and they do not have a TUE then this will be considered to be a failed test.
The new regulations place a greater onus on the individual players and also the clubs and it is vital therefore to ensure that the players are fully aware of their roles and responsibilities under these regulations.
This information is a brief summary of the key changes to the Doping Control Regulations and Procedures. To obtain more details of the changes please contact:
John Bramhall or Richard Jobson at the PFA on 0161 236 0575.
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