UK Anti-Doping launches new four-year Strategic Plan
UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) has today reinforced its commitment to clean sport, as it outlined its aims to increase its public-funded testing programme by 50%, as part of its new four-year Strategic Plan 2018-2022.
The increase in public-funded testing is one of a range of objectives outlined by UKAD, the organisation responsible for clean sport in the UK, and testing British athletes wherever they are.
Mandatory anti-doping requirements for the governing bodies of sport (NGBs) with an emphasis on grassroots to elite level athlete education, a greater and more prominent presence at sporting events, and developing the latest innovations in intelligence gathering, are also included in the strategy which was launched today with support from Tracey Crouch MP, Minister for Sport and Civil Society.
Having celebrated its ninth birthday at the end of last year, and following the UK Government’s Tailored Review of its operations, UKAD recognises the importance of adapting its approaches to an increasingly complex sporting world. The strategy also tackles the increasing threat to public confidence in clean sport, as well as formalising the requirements of the governing bodies of sport.
UKAD Chair, Trevor Pearce CBE QPM, said: “We are delighted to be able to present our new Strategic Plan, at a time when the challenges in anti-doping are as acute as they have ever been.
“The additional funding from Government, following the Tailored Review earlier this year, has enabled us to be more bold and ambitious in our planning, expanding our investment into new and innovative approaches, as well as improving and growing current practices to help protect every athlete’s right to clean sport.
“Over the next four years, UKAD will be preparing for a new World Anti-Doping Code, the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020, as well as looking forward to the Commonwealth Games coming to Birmingham in 2022.”
The UKAD anti-doping testing programme, which focuses resources on the greatest threats to clean sport, has completed more tests than ever in the 2017- 2018 year, with an 12% increase on the previous 12 months. UKAD has set out a clear ambition to ‘increase publicly-funded testing by at least 50% by the end of March 2022’ as one of the key performance indicators in the new strategy.
There will also be a new emphasis on encouraging people to come forward with information regarding anti-doping. Nearly half of all Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) in the last two years have originated from intelligence reports received by the organisation. UKAD will deliver targeted campaigns, and develop new tools to make it easier for athletes and those involved in sport to report their concerns about doping.
New areas of activity outlined also include:
• Production of an Assurance Framework to ensure governing bodies of sport are fulfilling their anti-doping obligations
• Establishment of an Innovations Commission to identify new trends in doping and pilot new approaches
• Promotion of anti-doping education to become a mandatory part of coaching qualifications
• Revision of National Anti-Doping Policy to bring it in line with the 2015 World Anti-Doping Code
Tracey Crouch MP, Minister for Sport and Civil Society, said: “We must do everything we can to make sure sport is free from doping. UKAD has always been at the forefront of this fight, but as the world of doping evolves we cannot afford to be complacent.
"This new strategic plan, supported by additional Government funding, will help combat doping and ensure that clean athletes are competing on a level playing field.”
UKAD will maintain its core business responsibilities; educating athletes on their rights and responsibilities, to test athletes for prohibited substances, investigate all forms of doping-related wrongdoing, and to remove from sport those who break the rules.
UKAD’s new Strategic Plan will run until 2022. A full copy of the Strategic Plan can be downloaded below.