The World Anti-Doping Agency approved a new version of its World Anti-Doping Code during their last Conference. This comes into force on January 1st, 2015.

This required a revision of the FAI Anti-Doping Rules.  The new code also gave us some extra flexibility with details in our FAI rules. After a thorough and careful review, the FAI Anti-Doping Rules have been approved by WADA and by the FAI Executive Board and will also come into force on January 1st, 2015. They can be downloaded here .

The major changes in the FAI Anti-Doping Rules include the following:

• The standard sanction will be 4 years for cases involving non-specified substances. as well, the new Code introduces the concept of “Intentionality” of the violation. Other violations have different ineligibility periods. In the case of Specified Substances under some conditions, the sanction will range from a reprimand to a 2 years sanction as happened under 2009 Code. There is also the introduction of the concept of contaminated product.
• There are now 10 type of violations. The prohibited association has been added.
• Therapeutic Use Exemption: New Recognition process: 1) International Level athlete always apply to  their International Federation (IF); 2) If they already have a TUE from their National Federation, the IF must recognize the TUE; and, 3) the IF may choose to extend the validity of a TUE automatically for a class of substances or for selected classes of substances.
• Whereabouts/Out-Of-Competition Tests: IFs may decide (based on their Test Distribution Plan), to have different tiers of Testing Pools. IFs may have an RTP as before (with athletes providing whereabouts every day, and also subject to eventual sanctions) and/or have Testing Pools (with athletes providing only general information ex: address of home and training, telephone number etc.) The Athletes in the Testing Pool are not subject to sanction IF they are not available for a random test. In the past months, the FAI has continuously voiced the option that it needs to be able to determine how best to deploy its scarce resources to detect and deter substance abuse and this will now be accommodated thanks to the update of the WADA Rules. The FAI has adopted the second option and moved away from the need to have a Registered Testing Pool (RTP).

More info on the FAI website and at antidoping@fai.org