Summary One (1) of the Professor Arne Ljungqvist Anti-Doping Foundation Symposium in Stockholm

Session 1: Introduction

Introduction by Minsitry of Culture and Sports, Lena Adelsohn-Liljeroth
The symposium was inaugurated by Lena Adelsohn-Liljeroth, the Minister of Culture and Sports in Sweden and Professor Harriet Wallberg-Henriksson, the President of Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, as well as Arne Ljungqvist himself.

Key note address: Developing new alliances to tackle the increasing problem of doping in sport.
David Howman, General Director of WADA (Montreal, Canada) gave an introductional lecture on “Prevalence in society and sports and international cooperation.” He mentioned the UNESCO Anti-Doping Convention, signed by 172 countries, and how governments can align their domestic policies with the Code, thus harmonizing the rules governing anti-doping in sport and public legislation, and how governments can give effect to the Convention, either by way of legislation, regulation, policies or administrative practices. Howman also talked about the need for intelligence work in connection to testing and how the black market for pharmaceutical substances calls for cooperation with allies outside of sports.

Session 2: Regulations of doping in sport and society

The UNESCO anti-doping Convention and its impact on national legislation
The assistant Director General, UNESCO (Paris), Pilar Álvarez-Laso spoke on “The UNESCO anti-doping convention and its impact on national legislation.” She underlined that as leading partners in the fight against doping in sport, UNESCO and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) work together, at the international level, to combat this plague, which harms athletes, destroys fair play and equitable competition and does irreparable damage to the credibility of sport. Focusing on the moral, legal and health consequences of doping, she called for education of the young generation in order to ensure everyone’s right to participate in sports free from doping.

Who decides what is doping, and how?
Dr Gary Wadler, past chairman of the WADA List Committee (New York), talked about “Who decides what is doping, and how?” He talked about the Prohibited List, which is revised annually, as the cornerstone of the World Anti-Doping Code (WADC). Each substance or method being considered for possible addition to the list must fulfill at least two of three criteria:

-       it has the potential to enhance performance or it enhances sports performance
-       its use represents an actual or potential health risk
-       its use violates the spirit of sport

The current revision of the WADC (to be implemented in 2015) attempts at making the first criteria obligatory, and claiming a drug or method as doping if at least one of the other two criteria is present. 

An overview of the Swedish Anti-Doping Legal System
Kristina Olinder, chair of the Swedish Sports Confederation Anti-Doping Commission, presented “An overview of the Swedish Anti-Doping Legal System.” To begin with, she showed how anti-doping work in sport is organized in Sweden. Today the anti-doping organization lies within the Swedish Sports Confederation (SSC), a non-profit private association consisting of 69 special sports federations. The World Anti-Doping Code is implemented and forms a part of the SSC statutes, agreed upon by the member federations.

Sweden has ratified both the European Convention and the UNESCO Convention on Doping in Sport and has legislation against doping. Other than for medicinal or scientific purposes, the substances specified may not be e.g. sold, possessed, or used. Olinder talked about the balancing act between legislation in the society and that within sports. She also reported on the possible establishment of an independent National Anti-Doping Organization (NADO) to work with doping in Sweden.

The implementation of the World Anti-Doping Code at the level of an international sports federation.   
Huw Roberts from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Legal Counsel (Monaco) discussed “The implementation of the World Anti-Doping Code at the level of an International Federation.“ According to article 20 of the Code each international federation shall adopt and implement anti-doping rules and policies which conform to the Code. Roberts showed how the IAAF do this by working with prevention through education via website and training sessions, as well as vigorous testing. Globally, the IAAF conduct more than 25,000 doping controls in and out of competition every year. The IAAF have also created an Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) for each athlete on the top international level.

Arne Ljungqvist Anti-Doping Foundation
Author: Åke Andrén-Sandberg 
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