UEFA anti-doping measures strengthened
Friday, March 13, 2015
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UEFA's Medical Committee gave the green light to a new steroid profiling programme for 2015/16 as well as the UEFA EURO 2016 anti-doping programme.
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UEFA's Medical Committee has approved a new steroid profiling programme and the UEFA EURO 2016 anti-doping programme at its latest meeting in Nyon.
The ground-breaking steroid profiling programme will come into operation for the start of the 2015/16 season for all UEFA competitions, and will help create biological passport profiles for players. The Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) monitors players' selected biomarkers over time, and indirectly reveals the effects of doping as a result, as well as providing intelligence for target testing.
The steroid profiling programming will boost the already strong deterrent effect of UEFA's testing programme, as it will help better detect the effects of doping over time, thereby complementing existing direct anti-doping testing.
The UEFA EURO 2016 anti-doping programme will comprise extensive out-of-competition testing prior to the start of the tournament for all 24 teams. In-competition testing will involve testing at all 51 matches, with over 200 individual tests taking place. For out-of and in-competition testing, blood, urine and serum samples will be taken for each tested player.
The impressive logistical operation in France will involve the recruitment of a UEFA general medical officer and 20 UEFA doping control officers (DCOs). Samples will be analysed by a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-accredited laboratory. Steroid profiling will also be used, and all samples will be stored long-term after the tournament.
The Medical Committee meeting also received an update on the UEFA Football Doctor Education Programme (FDEP) workshop to be held in Budapest from 28–30 April. The workshop will be attended by delegates from 53 UEFA member associations, and the nine speakers will present a variety of topics ranging from monitoring fatigue and recovery to concussion. Meanwhile, it was announced at the meeting that UEFA is in discussions with the medical publisher Thieme to publish a three-volume encyclopaedia of football medicine later this year.
The Medical Committee also reviewed and approved the UEFA EURO 2016 medical services proposal.
