Competitors
Anti-Doping: Staying 100% Me
Illegal doping and drug use to improve athletic performance isn’t often something we hear about in Motorsport, however, it is important that as a competitor, team manager, parent, coach or anyone working within Motorsport you understand what doping is, the rules, the sanctions and the potential consequences if you get it wrong.
WHAT IS DOPING & ANTI-DOPING?
When athletes use prohibited substances or methods to unfairly improve their sporting performance.
Anti-doping is about ensuring all athletes have available to them the knowledge, behaviours and resources to prevent an anti-doping rule violation and protect the integrity of the sport. It gives all athletes competing in sport the knowledge that they, and their competitors are clean and are competing on a level playing field.
ANTI-DOPING RULE VIOLATIONS (ADRV’S)
Doping is defined in the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Code as breaking one or more of the Anti-Doping Rule Violations. There are 10 rule violations and competitors need to make sure they are fully aware of ALL the Anti-Doping Rule Violations and what the consequences are for breaking them.
YOU are solely responsible for any banned substance found in YOUR system, no matter how it got there or whether YOU had the intention to cheat or not. This is called Strict Liability.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW AS COMPETITORS
There is a LIST of things you CAN’T take or do – WADA Prohibited List (wada-ama.org)
Always check every medication prior to taking
The Global Drug Reference Online (Global DRO www.globaldro.co.uk) provides athletes with information about the prohibited status of specific medications. Global DRO does not contain information on, or that applies to, any dietary supplements.
Supplements – There is no guarantee that any supplement is free from banned substances. We would always encourage the ‘food first’ principle, and only use supplements if there is a nutritional or dietary requirement to do so.
THERAPEUTIC USE EXEMPTION (TUE)
If you need to use a banned substance or method to treat a genuine medical condition AND there are no other alternatives, you may apply for a TUE. The granting criteria for a TUE is:
- That the absence of the substance would harm the athlete’s health
- There is no performance enhancing effect, other than the return to a normal state of health
- No other authorised alternative exists
TESTING
Who can be tested and when? Athletes can be tested any time, any place.
Who does the test? Trained and authorised Doping Control Officers (DCO) conduct testing.
Visit UKAD’s section on the Testing Process which goes into more detail on exactly what happens in a test.
TOP TIPS FOR STAYING 100% ME
- Know and comply with the Anti-Doping rules
- Stay up to date with the prohibited list
- Check any medication before you take it
- Apply for a TUE if required
- Question any supplements
- Make yourself available for testing
What you should do:
Tell – medical personnel, like your doctor, your coach and any other support personnel who work with you, that you must participate in sport in line with the Anti-Doping Rules
Check – all medication should be checked to see if it contains any banned substances
Ask – if you are unsure about any anti-doping matter then ‘ask’
Adopt – a ‘Food First’ approach, there are no shortcuts
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Visit the competitors section on the Learning Hub or email training@motorsportuk.org
OR
See the Anti-Doping Pages and Resources on the Motorsport UK website;
www.motorsportuk.org/competitors/anti-doping/
www.motorsportuk.org/competitors/anti-doping/useful-resources/
You can also visit the FIA website to find more on their Race True education
Or the UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) website’s Athlete Hub