CCES announces results for 2008-09 anti-doping program

(Ottawa, Ontario – May 28, 2009) – The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) completed its fiscal year, April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009, with a total of 3,951 doping control tests and 16 anti-doping rule violations. During the period, several milestones were achieved, including the release of an updated set of anti-doping rules, and the determination of a set of three rule violations resulting from an investigation. 

Seventy-three percent or 2,878 tests were conducted under the Canadian Anti-Doping Program (CADP), which is funded by Sport Canada and administered by the CCES on behalf of Canadian athletes. The CCES led a major renewal of the program during this year; the revised CADP went into effect on January 1, 2009, re-aligned and in tandem with the new World Anti-Doping Code. At year-end 63 funded and recognized sport organizations had formally adopted  the CADP as a concrete way to demonstrate their commitment to clean sport. 

“The CCES collected the highest number of samples in its history this year,” said CCES President and CEO Paul Melia. “Looking forward though we will concentrate our domestic testing program less on random testing and more on intelligent testing while at the same time continuing to offer our fee-for-service testing to international sport bodies. These testing activities combined with our investigations work and education initiatives will form an increasingly effective combination of deterrence and detection in our efforts to fight doping in sport.” 

Sixteen anti-doping rule violations were reported during the year. Ten of them were first violations for cannabis use and resulted in a warning and reprimand with no period of ineligibility. The CCES has alerted the Canadian sport community that, under new CADP rules, violations for cannabis use will likely result in sanction time, and any second violation over the next eight years would result in very serious consequences. 

The CCES reported its first violations for both admission and administration of a banned substance. Three individuals were sanctioned, including lifetime bans for two athlete support personnel, for the long-term planned use of EPO to achieve cycling results. 

The remaining 1,073 tests were conducted on a fee-for-service basis for national sport organizations, international sport federations, national anti-doping organizations, and two international anti-doping agencies: the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the Association of National Anti-Doping Organizations (ANADO), which contract doping control internationally.

 During the last quarter of the year, as part of several of the 13 sport events where  CCES conducted testing, the CCES collected 96 blood samples (in addition to urine samples) on behalf of clients. The CCES plans to restart its collection of blood within the domestic program early in the next fiscal year. 

A highlight in the last quarter of the year was the number of tests conducted for the sport of hockey. Within the first year of a joint agreement with the Canadian Hockey League, CCES collected 129 samples across all leagues: Western, Ontario, Quebec Major Junior and Quebec Midget AAA. In addition, 124 tests were conducted for the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) during the World Junior Championships held in Ottawa. 

The CCES provides services to athletes in several areas as part of its  comprehensive anti-doping program, including the administration of athlete whereabouts reporting and applications for therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs). WADA participated in an athlete focus group hosted by the CCES in January to gather feedback from athletes to improve ADAMS, an online whereabouts reporting system provided by WADA, and on the upcoming redesign of the CCES website. 

A major revision to the International Standard for Therapeutic Use Exemptions (ISTUE) was implemented in 2009. Some medications used in the treatment of asthma (beta-2 agonists) now require a more extensive application supported by a medical file, while the use of another type of medication (glucocorticosteroids administered by specific routes) now requires a Declaration of Use. The CCES collaborated with other national anti-doping organizations to develop and validate new processes, and  communicated these revisions to the sport community to protect Canadian athletes’ rights on the world stage. In the final quarter of 2009, TUE applications increased by 44% over the same period last year; 79% of these were for asthma medications. 

The sport community also relies on the CCES for substance inquiries, to verify whether certain medications are banned in sport by the WADA Prohibited List. The popular online substance inquiry service DID Global was discontinued on January 1, and the number of inquiries by telephone and email increased by 61% from that time. A replacement service, DRO Global, is in development and will be in place for athletes and their support personnel in June 2009. 

The  foundation of the CCES’ comprehensive anti-doping program is education, and our efforts to ensure that athletes understand their rights and responsibilities in clean sport. The CCES supports athletes with its internet-based e-learning program  in which  an athletes’ progress through the course can be  monitored by their sport organization. Organizations, including Canadian Interuniversity Sport and Football Canada, have made this course mandatory for their members. The course has been revised to align with new anti-doping rules and will be launched to stakeholder organizations in stages through May and June of 2009. 

The CCES is an independent, national, non-profit organization. Our mission, to foster ethical sport for all Canadians, is carried out through research, promotion, education, detection and deterrence, as well as through programs and partnerships with other organizations. 

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