MADRID, 11 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Athletes from Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Portugal will face “stricter” anti-doping controls in order to be eligible for the Paris Games, which take place from July 26 to August 11, following the recommendation of the Integrity Unit of Athletics (AIU) due to the “insufficiency” of tests at the national level, according to a statement.
“All four federations received clear warnings from the AIU about the insufficiency of their national testing programs following the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene. All four failed to ensure that there would be provided off-course testing for their teams at the following World Championships. of Athletics in Budapest 2023”, reported the AIU.
For this reason, World Athletics accepted the AIU’s call for the federations of Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Portugal to “impose eligibility conditions for controls” on their athletes to be able to participate in Paris 2024.
Thus, in the ten months prior to July 4, 2024, each athlete must have undergone at least three out-of-competition controls without prior notice (urine and blood, and three weeks apart; the first, no later than the 19th). May) including, if competing in any event over 800 m, at least a Biological Athlete Passport and an EPO test.
The AIU reported that these controls will affect athletes who are not part of the Registered Testing Group (RTP) and the stipulations are similar to the minimum regulations requested by World Athletics for ‘Category A’ countries, with federations that “have the greatest risk of doping and are considered a threat to the overall integrity of the sport.
Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Portugal belonged to ‘Category B’, with less risk, but the AIU Board took the “unprecedented” step of including it in ‘A’, for not remedying the quality of the controls. Meanwhile, others, such as the Czech Republic and New Zealand, did the same and left that category.
“We are pleased with the Council’s decision to support the AIU recommendations. This action is tough, but necessary, as we did not receive an adequate response from these federations to the clear warnings we gave in the run-up to this year’s World Athletics Championships. past,” said AIU president David Howman.
The leader insisted that both the AIU and World Athletics take “very seriously the task of guaranteeing equal conditions for athletes.” “Organizations must ensure that their equipment undergoes sufficient testing before Paris 2024 and the AIU will not hesitate to refer any other federation to the Council if we do not see sufficient evidence,” he warned.
Howman revealed that controls in athletics at the national level “are improving, but need to be strengthened further to safeguard the integrity of ‘premium’ events.” “In general, the national level tests in our sport are going in the right direction,” he celebrated.
For context, 2,004 athletes competed in Budapest, compared to 1,719 in Eugene (a 17% increase). There were 5,542 off-course tests performed on athletes in the run-up to Budapest, compared to 4,235 for Eugene (a 30% increase). In total, 8,466 checks were carried out before Budapest, compared to 6,359 in Eugene (33% increase).
Looking at statistics by country, Kenya (11.4), China (11.3), Ethiopia (8.9), Morocco (7.1) and the United States (6) averaged the highest number of tests per athlete before the World Cup in the Hungarian capital.