International Federations to appoint designated anti-doping contacts to coordinate with IOC and WADA

International Federations are to closer coordinate their work to tackle doping in sport ©Getty Images

International Federations are to closer coordinate their strategies towards tackling illegal drug use by athletes ahead of Rio 2016, following a meeting with representatives from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in Lausanne.

This comes following a reallignment in the anti-doping programmes of various federations, some of which had previously used SportAccord to oversee their work.

During the meeting, which included officials representing all 28 Summer Olympic IFs, it was decided that each one would appoint a designated contact person to facilitate the exchange of information and intelligence between them as well as the IOC, WADA and National Anti-Doping Organisations (NADOs).

This will enable them to "align testing plans, improve the whereabouts system and timely share information about Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs) in the best way possible", it is hoped.

An overview of the Rio 2016 Anti-Doping Programme was also presented, including a summary of the anti-doping operations at test events as well as an update about the Athlete Biological Passport.

“The gathering was an important signal that all key players are aligned and ready to work together on protecting clean athletes on the road to Rio," said Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) executive director, Andrew Ryan.

"On ASOIF’s side we are happy to help coordinate all the valuable work undertaken from the Summer Olympic IFs.

"We will also re-conduct research analysing the current anti-doping activities and related expenditure of our members.

”Such a study was already conducted in 2010 and an update will allow for a clear picture of the IFs’ current efforts in this field, identify best practices as well as potential for improvement."

International Federations, pictured at the 2015 ASOIF General Assembly in Sochi, are keen to better coordinate anti-doping work ©ITG

In the longer term, anti-doping is one area which could still be conducted partly through a revamped SportAccord, although this is subject to discussion at an Extraordinary General Assembly of the body in Lausanne next month.

SportAccord has dramatically decreased in scope in recent months following the resignation of former President Marius Vizer after a series of withdrawals, and the IOC had promised to help plug the gap left in areas such as anti-doping.

Margo Mountjoy, the new chair of ASOIF’s Medical Consultative Group, led a session during the meeting entitled “Pre-Games Testing: Effective cooperation and intelligence sharing with IFs and NADOs in the lead-up to Rio 2016”.

“I strongly believe that IFs have an integral key role in the fight against doping," she said.

"They oversee the international sporting scene and control their events in between the Olympic Games.

"As such, IFs know their sport and the latest developments within, best.

"They also have unsurpassed intelligence when it comes to changes in sporting performances of their athletes.

"This is important knowledge for driving and influencing targeted testing during the lead in period before the Games.”

Drug testing during next summer's Games is set to take place at Rio de Janeiro's Federal University (UFRJ), after the revamped facility was re-accredited by WADA in May.