Over 60 persons attended the seminar, information CDs were distributed on the spot and Ms. Mills was available to discuss anti-doping issues with the participants over the weekend.

SportAccord DFSU actively promotes doping-free sport by encouraging the sharing of information and expertise. The DFSU therefore took this opportunity to organise a technical workshop on the day before the Symposium with a dozen of its Members’ operational anti-doping staff to discuss jointly aspects of the proposed Code in relation to the Code definition of Athlete. The Symposium was also a great platform to follow up individually with Members on particular issues and to discuss present and future collaborations with national anti-doping organisations (NADOs). Collaboration between international federations and national anti-doping organisations is paramount in the fight against doping and is strongly supported by SportAccord DFSU.

For more information, please contact Françoise Dagouret at francoise.dagouret@sportaccord.com

At the end of last year, SportAccord and Antidoping Switzerland, the Swiss national anti-doping organisation, signed an agreement to share Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) data and coordinate ABP testing on Swiss athletes, thereby joining efforts in a field that will be at the core of the future of anti-doping.All International Sports Federations that choose to outsource their ABP programme to SportAccord and have Swiss athletes part of the programme will be able to benefit from this agreement with Antidoping Switzerland, and SportAccord hopes that this will be the first of many similar agreements with other national anti-doping organisations.

Dr. Matthias Kamber, Director of Antidoping Switzerland, “ Antidoping Switzerland is convinced that international cooperation is key for clean sports to prevail over cheating. Therefore, the independent Swiss foundation is encouraged by the joint signature of this Collaboration Agreement, in order to harmonise the collection and exchange of Athletes Passports and related results management procedures of several RTP athletes. "

Vincent Gaillard, Director General of SportAccord, "We are very excited about this new strategic partnership with Antidoping Switzerland. Now that SportAccord has been contracted to set up and manage ABP programmes for several Member International Federations, this type of national-international agreement will play a vital role to enable the seamless sharing of information and increase efficiency in the fight against doping."

Any IFs outsourcing their Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) program to SportAccord, such as the two IFs that set up their ABP program through SportAccord in 2011 and 2012, will benefit from the high-quality expertise of this laboratory.

The SportAccord DFSU will also consult with LAD on a need by need basis, when it is required or appropriate. This will enable the DFSU to respond to Members’ scientific queries that fall beyond the internal expertise of the DFSU and to better support Members in improving their testing programs, particularly to encourage incorporating intelligent testing practices during the test distribution planning phase.

Doping-Free Sport Unit

The outcome of this consultation, which gathered the opinions of 17 Members i.e. approximately 15% of SportAccord Members, with again a balanced percentage from each of the IF categories, was submitted to WADA by the October deadline of the second phase of WADA’s Code Review Process.

Furthermore, the SportAccord DFSU submitted its own comments and suggestions on Draft Version 1.0 of the 2015 Code and each of the current International Standards separately, based on its practical experience working with the Code and Standards.

We would like to encourage all Members to get involved during the next and final consultation phase, which starts on 1 December 2012, and to take this opportunity to actively contribute to improving the international legal anti-doping framework for the future of anti-doping!

The purpose of the Outreach programme, managed by WADA’s Senior Manager Athlete Relations and Communications, Stacy Spletzer-Jegen, was to raise awareness in anti-doping among the Olympic athletes and their entourage. The Outreach Centre, which was located in the dining hall of the Olympic Village, was a fun, interactive and engaging hub that attracted many athletes to test their knowledge in anti-doping. WADA’s Play True Quiz, an interactive computer game available in 28 different languages, formed the theoretical basis, and the team of anti-doping experts were at hand in the Centre to answer any of the participants’ questions.

The combination of using online educational material, enabling one-on-one interaction, handing out rewards for high scores (WADA’s Olympic Trilby hats), distributing essential anti-doping information such as the 2012 Prohibited List, in wallet format, and encouraging some light-hearted fun after participants completed the Quiz, made for a very successful programme.

Natalie Mills shares some thoughts on her experience in the Centre, “The atmosphere was fantastic and it was a fun way for athletes to learn more and show their support! I expected all the Olympic athletes to be aware of the basics in anti-doping, particularly considering what is at stake if any of the athletes are found to have committed an anti-doping rule violation, even inadvertently. However, reality mirrored the rich cultural diversity at the Games, and there were definitely clear gaps in the knowledge between athletes from different areas of the globe. This highlights the need for further education, in and out-of-competition, and efficient coordination between the various anti-doping organisations, i.e. IFs, NFs and NADOs or RADOs, to ensure that the athletes, their coaches, team doctors and relevant administrative staff all know the rules.”

To see more pictures taken in the Outreach Centre at the Olympics, you can visit WADA’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/wada.ama

The Outreach Model can be adopted by National Anti-Doping Organisations (NADOs), National Olympic Committees (NOCs), International Federations (IFs), National Federations (NFs) and other sports organisations to easily and efficiently deliver outreach during events in their own countries or sports. If you are interested in learning more about this model, click here .

For further information on the SportAccord DFSU’s education activities, please contact Ms Natalie Mills by email at  natalie.mills@sportaccord.com .

WADA’s Outreach model was used as the core element of the programme to raise awareness. In addition to the anti-doping educational material provided, athletes were encouraged to participate in the Play True Quiz and test their knowledge by answering 10 multiple choice questions. Each participant received their personal score as well as detailed explanations of the correct answers. Overall, 40% of the athletes at the event took part in the quiz and prizes were randomly drawn among all participants.

The DFSU also organised an anti-doping seminar for coaching staff and gave a presentation featuring topics such as the use of dietary supplements, recreational drugs and therapeutic use exemptions. The coach’s involvement in keeping an athlete informed in anti-doping and aware of the risks of doping is essential, and consequently SportAccord believes that educating coaches has an enormous impact on athletes’ compliance with the anti-doping rules. Close to 70% of the coaches attended the seminar.