Rights and responsibilities
The anti-doping rules are significant in sports today and guarantee the right to fair competition for athletes. It is therefore essential for athletes to know their rights and responsibilities. The most important rights and responsibilities related to doping control are the following:
Athletes' rights include:
- confidential treatment by the doping control officer;
- the doping control process to be carried out in accordance with the applicable rules;
- to be shown an identification of the doping control officers authorizing them to carry out doping control;
- to be accompanied by a representative (coach, support personnel, parent...) to the doping control station;
- to have a doping control officer of the same sex present when passing the urine sample;
- to have a representative present when passing the urine sample in the event that the athlete is a minor;
- to be requested in writing, by means of a control form, to provide a sample;
- to be informed about the sanctions in case of refusal;
- to take in any amount of liquid in their own responsibility in the period between the request to provide a sample and the actual passing of the sample;
- to have an interpreter present, if necessary;
- to have the doping control process explained, if necessary;
- to choose from a selection of sealed control material;
- to delegate the handling of the control material to the control officer or to carry it out himself/herself;
- to enter any medication and supplements taken in the past 48 hours as well as any therapeutic use exemptions on the control form;
- to enter comments on the doping control process on the control form;
- to be given a copy of the signed form;
- to have the control process modified if a disability does not allow the regular procedure;
- to be notified of the result of the analysis;
- to request a "B" sample analysis within five calendar days, if there is a positive result on the "A" sample; otherwise, the "B" sample analysis will be deemed waived;
- to attend the "B" sample opening and analysis if such analysis is requested or to send a representative;
- to request from the laboratory a copy of all forms used to document the analysis of the "A" sample and, if applicable, of the "B" sample.
Responsibilities of athletes
Before being admitted to the top-ranking squad, the top-ranking youth-squad or the team of the top league, athletes must make a commitment in writing to the national sports federation, pledging:
- to acknowledge the applicable anti-doping rules of the national sports federation and the provisions contained in the Anti-Doping Federal Act;
- to acknowledge the anti-doping rules applicable to the relevant international competition to which they are sent;
- to refrain from all actions which are incompatible with the principles of fairness in sport and to ensure by all means at their disposal that no prohibited substances enter their body tissue or body fluids and no prohibited methods are used on them;
- to participate in testing pursuant to the Anti-Doping Federal Act;
- to promptly report to NADA Austria and the national sports federation their residential addresses, training schedules and training locations, their availability and any changes to this data as well as information on their whereabouts, if they wish to leave the residential address for more than three days, as well as any change of name and their retirement from sport;
- in the case of medical or dental treatment, to request the physician or dentist to inform them prior to the application of medication or the use of treatment methods whether they are admissible in accordance with the Anti-Doping Federal Act;
- to employ only such individuals as support personnel who are not excluded from this capacity pursuant to the Anti-Doping Federal Act;
- to give their express consent to the processing of health-related data which become available as a result of analyzing doping samples and granting therapeutic use exemptions.
Compilation of all legislation related to the Anti-Doping Federal Act (PDF
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