FIFA and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) have entered into new drug testing procedures for footballers playing at the highest level.

The new anti-doping rules by the football governing body come into force as a pilot project initiated after FIFA objected to players being held to the toughest standards of the new WADA code.

From Guardian.co.uk:

Fifa proposed the targeted testing program to Wada after arguing that team sports like football, where training and playing locations are more predictable, should not be treated like individual sports such as athletics and cycling, where competitors’ plans change at short notice.

It also argued that footballers were entitled to their individual privacy during out-of-season holiday times. Individual testing and whereabouts requirements for players was “inefficient and ineffective,” Fifa said on Tuesday. “Random team testing of elite teams at any time has more of a deterrent effect.” Fifa has also created a specialised anti-doping unit of medical and legal advisers and anti-doping administrators to operate the pilot scheme this year.

It will work with Wada and liaise with national anti-doping organizations and other sports federations. More than 28,000 doping controls were carried out in football in 2007 with 93 samples testing positive. Around 60% of those positives were for recreational drugs and 12 involved anabolic steroids.

The doping tests will be targeted at football players classed in three high-risk categories: players with Champions League clubs, international players, and those sidelined for long periods through injury or suspension.

Tags: anabolic steroids, doping, FIFA, recreational drugs, WADA

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