Coronavirus: Sport Ireland to maintain anti-doping programme

Sport Ireland has revised its national anti-doping programme in the face of the coronavirus crisis, putting the priority for testing on athletes still training towards the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics later this summer.

Even with practically all national and international sporting events and collective training postponed for the coming weeks at least, athletes on the Registered Testing Pool can still be tested at home, Sport Ireland also warning athletes they must update their whereabouts information as normal.

Other national anti-doping programmes, including the UK and US, have already announced reviewed testing procedures. In a statement, Sport Ireland said it “recognises the significant effect the spread of the Covid-19 is having on sport and the wider society both here in Ireland and across the world”.

It added: “In these unprecedented and uncertain times, the primary goal of Sport Ireland is the protection of the health and well-being of our athletes and anti-doping personnel.

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“Sport Ireland will continue priority testing in line with risk assessments and based on any intelligence received. Athletes on the Registered Testing Pool will still be required to update their whereabouts information as normal. With the cancellation of sports fixtures and events across the country, in-competition testing will not be taking place.

“The safety of both sample collection personnel and athletes is of paramount importance. Therefore, all Government and HSE advice in relation to social distancing and taking necessary risk minimilisation precautions are being strictly adhered to. Sport Ireland believes this is the correct and proportionate action to take in these circumstances and this approach will be kept under constant review in the context of advice issued by both the Government and the HSE.”

According to the latest figures, Sport Ireland carries out 1,112 anti-doping tests annually, that 2018 number up 12 per cent on the previous year, reasonably split between 775 urine tests and 337 blood tests. Of those, 899 were taken in the more telling out-of-competition surrounds.

UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) chief executive Nicole Sapstead yesterday announced "a significant reduction" in their testing as a result of coronavirus: "With the cancellation of sporting events and recent UK Government advice concerning the control of the virus, we have reviewed our operational activity and are announcing a significant reduction in our testing programme. This is a difficult decision and one that has not been taken lightly.

“As an organisation our ongoing responsibility remains to protect clean sport, but we must give precedence to health and welfare and act responsibly in line with government advice during this unprecedented time. We will continue to process intelligence and will act on that information.”

The US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) also issued a similar statement, and that “effective immediately, USADA will focus only on mission-critical testing of athletes in sports still competing, and as absolutely needed for those preparing for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games to ensure their rights are upheld and their reputations protected.”

Athletes must also continue to file whereabouts to reflect changes in plans or cancelled events: We have been informed that some International Federations are continuing to test without change to their protocols. We are coordinating with WADA and other NADOs to ensure other countries are likewise continuing to ensure elite competition is fair globally and at the upcoming Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Sport Ireland is due to release their 2019 Anti-Doping Report later this month. What was different about the 2018 report was the position of Irish rugby, now second on the most-wanted list. Testing on rugby players in 2018 was up almost 60 per cent from two years ago, and Sport Ireland now considers it a more high-risk sport than athletics. The cost of the Sport Ireland anti-doping programme was €1.98 million in 2018 (some €648,769 of which went on legal fees). Like everything else in sport right now there’s is no telling when it will be anti-doping as usual.