Gaelic athletes to undergo new blood-sampling doping tests

ANTI-DOPING COMMITTEE ANNUAL REPORT:GAA PLAYERS will soon be subjected to the new blood-sampling methods for anti-doping carried out by the Irish Sports Council's anti-doping committee. Such blood sampling was carried out in Ireland for the first time at the European Cross Country in Dublin last December, and the success of that project has opened the way for the wider introduction of such testing in the national programme from the start of this year.

The IRFU are among the first governing bodies of Irish sport to agree to the new methods, which are expected to be carried out across all sports, including GAA, from next year.

In the meantime the anti-doping committee have already introduced gene testing, which is now carried out as part of the standard testing procedure.

This was announced at yesterday’s anti-doping committee annual report, which, in marking its 10th year of activity, reported 955 tests in 36 sports in 2009.

There were just seven adverse findings. Three of the positives were for cannabinoids, two in motorcycling and one in soccer, which resulted in short bans. Four more adverse findings were forwarded to the relevant international federations responsible for managing the case.

In March 2009, it was announced that Gary Gibson, a motocross rider who participated in a competition under the auspices of the Motor Cycling Union of Ireland, tested positive for the presence of cannabis. Last September, racing driver Barry Hallion also reported positive findings for cannabis, and last January Michael Byrne, who plays for Wexford Youths, was also sanctioned for the presence of cannabis.

There were four additional cases which came under the therapeutic use exemption system. In each case a positive test was explained by a banned substance taken for legitimate medical purpose but without the documentation.

Prof Brendan Buckley, the chair of the anti-doping committee, also highlighted the supplements and sports food policy, which was launched in March 2009, and repeated his views on nutritional supplements and warned against their use.

“The anti-committee recognise that supplements are widely used. However, we reserve the right to advise against their use, especially for junior competitors. The best advice I can give is that all athletes should seek expert advice in the area of nutrition.”

The anti-doping programme, operated by the Irish Sports Council and with a full-time staff of five people, cost the taxpayer €1.387 million last year. In 2009, 829 tests were carried out under the programme, with 58 per cent of these out-of-competition. The remainder, 126, were carried out under the user pays programme. The total for 2008 was 1,114.

On the management side, there has been an effort to streamline the administration of the programme.

“Simon”, a new management system introduced in 2009, includes an on-line “whereabouts” system.