England Athletics Clean Sport

Vision

Our vision is that athletes, support personnel and the wider public can have confidence that competition is carried out doping-free to ensure fair play and a belief in the performances that are seen.

What we will do

Our aim is to ensure all registered athletes and support personnel have access to the latest information on clean sport, are aware of their responsibilities, agree to, and adhere to UKA anti-doping rules.

England Athletics are working with UK Anti-Doping and UK Athletics to provide up to date information and education for all England Athletics members. To this end we will publish an annual implementation plan.

• Download the England Athletics Clean Sport Implementation Plan 2023 (PDF 360kB)
• Find out more and book onto the Clean Athletics Awareness course.

Latest Information

The 2023 Prohibited List of Substances and Methods has recently been released.

March 2023

As part of the implementation plan, England Athletics has a responsibility to ensure that everyone taking part in the sport agrees to the UKA Anti-Doping statement.

“All members shall be deemed to have made themselves familiar with and agreed to be bound by the UKA Anti-Doping Rules and to submit to the authority of UK Anti-Doping in the application and enforcement of the Anti-Doping Rules.

The UKA Anti-Doping Rules apply to all members participating in Athletics for a minimum of 12 months from the commencement of membership, whether or not the member is a citizen of, or resident in, the UK.

Any athlete wishing to retire from the sport of athletics must put this in writing to the club and England Athletics and cancel any applicable membership. Official retirement will remove the athlete from being under the auspices of UKA’s anti-doping rules.”

This statement has been embedded in the various Codes of Conduct which an athlete or person connected to athletics can access through the myAthletics Portal.  We would encourage all England Athletics members and participants to sign up to the Codes of Conduct to promote good practice through the portal.

We would also like to bring to your attention the part of the statement referencing retirement from the sport. We have created a process for an athlete to officially retire from the sport.  By officially retiring the athlete will remove themselves from the UKA Anti-Doping statement immediately, as opposed to letting membership and affiliation to the sport lapse and being tied to the statement for 12 months from the commencement of membership.

What did we do in 2022

• We provided Clean Sport education to all athletes on the Youth Talent Programme.
• We promoted the Clean Athletics Awareness Course to all coaches  on the Talent Pathways.
• We promoted Clean Sport awareness at all England Athletics Championships.
• We made available the Clean Athletics Awareness course to all members through the England Athletics website.
• We ensured all Team Staff had access to the Clean Athletics Awareness course.
• We released an explanatory video and communicated with licensed competition providers about the importance of Clean Sport to ensure fair competition and asked all licensed competition providers to include a statement linking entrants to the UKA anti-doping rules.
• An annual report on Clean Sport activities was presented to the EA Board in December 2022 by the Head of Talent and Board Champion for Clean Sport.
• We formally adopted the UKA anti-doping rules, aligned the EA implementation plan with the UKA Clean Sport Strategy.

UK Anti-Doping (UKAD)

UKAD is the National Anti Doping Organisation of the UK and is responsible for anti-doping in the UK. Its website includes education resources and provides information on anti-doping rules and procedures. UKAD has ‘Report Doping in Sport’ channels which allow the sport community to confidentially pass on information about potential doping.

• Find out more about UKAD.
• View a video about sample collection procedures.
• Find out more about reporting doping in sport.

Important information

The World Anti-Doping Agency prohibited list of drugs changes on a regular basis.  All athletes, coaches and support personnel should make themselves aware of any updates to the list on a regular basis.

• Access the World Anti-Doping Program (WADA) prohibited list.
• Download the iPhone app.
• View UK Athletics records and wider information on anti-doping.

Global Drug Reference Online

The Global DRO website allows you to check the status of registered medication, both prescribed and over the counter. Athletes of all levels should check any medication before they use it. Athletes should also advise their GP that they may be subject to testing so that this can be considered when considering any treatment. Please note that even if prescribed by a doctor, you should still check you medication on GlobalDRO and contact UKA immediately should the status of you medication be prohibited.

If a medication is prohibited it doesn’t necessarily mean that you cannot use it but you must notify the correct authorities through the Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) procedures. UKA can advise you on your TUE requirements.

Supplements Website

The manufacture of supplements is not controlled in the way that the manufacture of medicines is and extreme caution should be exercised before using a supplement. Athletes should consider their diet before using supplements and should realise that they are responsible for all substances that they ingest. UKA’s Supplements Position Statement has been produced to advise the sport on the best practice approach to supplement use.

• Read UKA’s Supplements Position Statement.
• Visit the Informed Sport website.

England Athletics completes UK Anti-Doping Assurance Framework

England Athletics has completed the Assurance Framework which National Governing Bodies (NGBs) must fulfil to certify to UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) that they are meeting their anti-doping responsibilities. The Assurance Framework outlines a series of mandatory requirements which all NGBs must fulfil. These include the creation of an education strategy and plan, the implementation of anti-doping rules and increased involvement of an NGB’s Board with clean sport. UKAD’s Director of Legal and Regulatory Affairs, Nisha Dutt, said:

“We are delighted to see England Athletics complete the new UKAD Assurance Framework. The Assurance Framework allows NGBs to demonstrate their plans to help protect the integrity of sport. We would like to thank England Athletics for making great strides in completing this important framework, formally demonstrating its compliance with the UK National Anti-Doping Policy and commitment to clean sport.”

Other Important Information

Please note that certain athletes are selected for the testing pools which means that they need to provide whereabouts information for out-of-competition testing. If you are selected, you will be advised individually and be given support with complying with the responsibilities. It is important to remember however that any athlete can be tested at any time, both in- and out-of-competition and if you are notified that you are required to provide a sample you must comply. Refusal to provide a sample when requested is an anti-doping rule violation with a standard sanction of a two-year ban.

Full information is available on the UKA website, including anti-doping requirements for record ratification.