LAUSANNE – The annual WADA Symposium held in Lausanne from 14 to 16 March 2016 was attended by two representatives from the FISU Medical Committee, Dr. Dusan Hamar, Committee Chair, and Dr. Thomas Crisp, Anti-Doping Coordinator. The symposium mainly dealt with the implementation of the recent Anti-Doping Code and related documents as well as with the actual problems of the anti-doping fight.
Of major relevance for FISU anti-doping activities is the application of the new Technical Document for Sports Specific Analyses (TDSSA). This new approach provides more flexibility to test distribution plans for the FISU sport events, namely the Winter and Summer Universiades and World University Championships (WUCs). Tests will focus on specific sports and substances according to the actual risk of their abuse. Concentrating on the analyses of specific substances in risky sports is expected to increase the financial efficiency of testing and deterrence of doping offences.
The principal investigator of the recent doping scandal in Russia, Richard W. Pound, pointed out that similar practices are also likely happening in other parts of the world and similar investigation processes are likely to follow. In the same line, the activities of the Anti-Doping Organisations (ADO) and International Sport Federations (ISF) also tend to focus on intelligence and on fostering whistleblowing, e.g. by dedicated hotlines or websites as an important tool in uncovering non-analytical doping violations.
The event created good opportunities for the FISU Medical Committee representatives to interact with the responsible anti-doping officers from partner ISFs, NADOs and future Universiade Organising Committees.
(Source: Dusan Hamar, FISU Medical Committee Chair)