Support The Moscow Times!

No Positive Doping Tests at Russia's World Cup

Carl Recine / Reuters

There have been no positive results from over 3,000 anti-doping tests carried out before and during the World Cup, FIFA said on Thursday.

FIFA collected 2,761 samples prior to the tournament and another 626 during it, including 108 collected on non-match days, as part of the largest-ever World Cup testing program.

"The regular tests were complemented by FIFA's use of the athlete biological passport program in WADA's "ADAMS" system, under which all test results, including those from confederations and NADOs collected at the main international football events as well as national competitions, are gathered in the athlete's passport in ADAMS, which features a haematological module [through blood] and a steroidal module [through urine]," FIFA said in a statement.

"FIFA's Athlete Passport Management Unit, composed of independent experts, reviews the data of players to detect potential deviations that may indicate an abuse of performance-enhancing drugs. This applied to all participating players at the FIFA World Cup."

For this year's tournament, every participating player was tested in unannounced controls before the competition and further systematic tests have been performed during it, both with post-match controls and on non-match days.

Around 90 percent of all tests were targeted, based on a number of criteria, including the recommendations of the Athlete Passport Management Unit, potential injuries suffered by the players, performance data and the athletes' test history.

On average, every player from the four remaining teams has been tested 4.41 times since January, with some of them tested eight times.

There was one adverse analytical finding but the player was in possession of a therapeutic use exemption for the substance detected.

There were also three atypical findings. These occur when a sample requires further investigation by the FIFA Anti-Doping Unit prior to the determination of an adverse analytical finding.

All samples collected will be stored for 10 years and be available for potential future retesting.

… we have a small favor to ask.

As you may have heard, The Moscow Times, an independent news source for over 30 years, has been unjustly branded as a "foreign agent" by the Russian government. This blatant attempt to silence our voice is a direct assault on the integrity of journalism and the values we hold dear.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. Our commitment to providing accurate and unbiased reporting on Russia remains unshaken. But we need your help to continue our critical mission.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just 2. It's quick to set up, and you can be confident that you're making a significant impact every month by supporting open, independent journalism. Thank you.

Continue

Read more