Introduction
The WDF IS COMMITTED TO ITS ANTI-DOPING PROGRAM AND FULFILLING ITS COMPLIANCE OBLIGATIONS TO THE WORLD ANTI-DOPING CODE
Doping can be harmful to an athlete’s health, damages the integrity of sport, and is morally and ethically wrong. All WDF athletes and any athlete hoping to participate in competitions under the WDF’s jurisdiction must abide by the WDF Anti-Doping Rules.
The below offers answers to important questions relating to anti-doping.
What are the Principles and Values of Clean Sport?
The intrinsic value of sport, often called “the spirit of sport” is the ethical pursuit of excellence through the dedicated perfection of each athlete’s natural talents. Clean sport is an environment where the health of athletes is protected and where they are provided with the opportunity to pursue high level performance without the use of prohibited substances and prohibited methods.
In doing so, clean sport protects the spirit of sport, which is the celebration of its spirit, body and mind and is reflected in the values we find in and through sport, including:
Anti-Doping’ programs aim to achieve and maintain a clean sport environment.
The goal of the WDF is for all members to stay educated and informed – not just Athletes, but coaches, administrators, medical personnel and all other members of the Athlete Support Personnel. We encourage everyone to take the time to review this section and get informed.
Principles and Values Association with Clean Sport
Whatever your sport and wherever you come from, we all share the same principles and values of clean sport. This is a notion shared by the whole sport community throughout the world.
How do you decide to compete in Darts?
When you decide to adhere to the rules of clean sport, you also decide to respect the values of fairness, equity, ethic, honesty and perseverance.
Who is actively fighting against doping?
All Anti-Doping Organisations (ADOs) are actively fighting against doping in sport and working to spread the values and principles of clean sport daily.
The anti-doping movement is governed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) with the mission to lead a collaborative worldwide movement for doping-free sport. They set up rules that all ADOs must respect.
The WDF, your national anti-doping organisation (NADO) and all other ADOs play a huge role in anti-doping by instilling the values of clean sport.
By educating our athletes, coaches, support personnel, medical teams and our National Federations, we deliver a message of health and fair play.
As an athlete, YOU also have a very important role to play in clean sport. By choosing not to resort to doping but also to spreading your knowledge of clean sport to others helps keep our sport stay clean.
It is also your role to report doping if you are witnessing it: you can help protect the athlete taking a prohibited substance as well as your sport by upholding the values of clean sport.
What is doping?
Doping is not just a positive test showing the presence of a prohibited substance in an athlete’s urine sample. Doping is defined as the occurrence of one or more of the 11 Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) outlined in the World Anti-Doping Code and the WDF Anti-Doping Rules
These are:
Why is doping in sport prohibited?
The use of doping substances or doping methods to enhance performance is fundamentally wrong and is detrimental to the overall spirit of sport. Drug misuse can be harmful to an athlete's health and to other athletes competing in the sport. It severely damages the integrity, image, and value of sport, whether or not the motivation to use drugs is to improve performance. To achieve integrity and fairness in sport, a commitment to clean sport is critical.
What does ‘Strict Liability’ mean?
The principle of strict liability applies to all athletes who compete in any sport with an anti-doping program. It means that athletes are responsible for any prohibited substance, or its metabolites or markers found to be present in their urine and/or blood sample collected during doping control, regardless of whether the athlete intentionally or unintentionally used a prohibited substance or method. Therefore, it is important to remember that it is each and every athlete’s ultimate responsibility to know what enters their body.
The rule which provides that principle, under Code Article 2.1 and Article 2.2, states that it is not necessary that intent, fault, negligence, or knowing use on the athlete’s part be demonstrated by the Anti-Doping Organization to establish an anti-doping rule violation.
Why is doping dangerous?
Doping can result in severe health consequences but also comes with sport, social, financial and legal consequences. For an athlete, doping could spell the end of their sporting career, reputation, and prospects both in and out of sport.
Sport Consequences
The sanctions for an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) can include:
Health Consequences
The health consequences to an athlete can include:
Social Consequences
Some of social consequences of doping include:
Financial Consequences
The financial consequences of doping can include:
Legal Consequences
In addition to the sport, health, social and financial consequences listed above, doping can come with other legal consequences, such as:
What do athletes and athlete support personnel need to know about anti-doping?
Athletes, their support personnel and others who are subject to anti-doping rules all have rights and responsibilities under the World Anti-Doping Code (Code). Part Three of the Code outlines all of the roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder in the anti-doping system
Athletes’ Rights
“Every athlete has the right to clean sport!”
Ensuring that athletes are aware of their rights and that these rights are respected is vital to the success of clean sport. WADA’s Athlete Committee (now Athlete Council) drafted the Athletes’ Anti-Doping Rights Act (Act). This Act is made up of two parts. Part one sets out rights that are found in the Code and International Standards. Part two sets out recommended athlete rights that are not found in the Code or International Standards but are rights that athletes recommend that Anti-Doping Organizations (ADOs) adopt for best practice.
Athlete rights outlined in the Code include:
Athletes’ Responsibilities
Athletes’ rights to clean sport come with corresponding responsibilities, and athletes may be tested in- and out-of-competition, anytime, anywhere and with no advance notice.
Their clean sport responsibilities include (but are not limited to):
Athlete Support Personnel Rights
Athlete support personnel and other persons also have rights and responsibilities under the Code. These include:
Athlete Support Personnel Responsibilities
Athlete support personnel’s responsibilities under the Code include:
* Unless the athlete support personnel can establish that the possession is consistent with a TUE granted to an athlete or other acceptable justification. Acceptable justification would include, for example, a team doctor carrying prohibited substances for dealing with acute and emergency situations.
The WDF’s Recommendation to Athlete Support Personnel
Here are some ways athlete support personnel can support their athletes in their education on clean sport:
What are other organizations involved in protecting clean sport in addition to the WDF?
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)
WADA was established in 1999 as an international independent agency to lead a collaborative worldwide movement for doping-free sport. WADA’s governance and funding are based on equal partnership between the Sport Movement and Governments of the world.
WADA’s primary role is to develop, harmonize and coordinate anti-doping rules and policies across all sports and countries. WADA’s key activities include:
For more information about WADA, consult:
National Anti-Doping Organizations (NADOs)
NADOs are organizations designated by each country as possessing the primary authority and responsibility to:
Regional Anti-Doping Organizations (RADOs)
In a number of regions of the world, countries have pooled their resources together to create a RADO responsible for conducting anti-doping activities in the region in support of NADOs.
RADOs bring together geographically-clustered groups of countries where there are limited or no anti-doping activities, for which they take over responsibility, including:
