The Finnish Antidoping Agency FINADA has published its doping test statistics for 2014. In 2014, FINADA carried out 3,020 doping tests in Finland and abroad. There were eight antidoping rule violations. Finland’s new Antidoping Code brought significant changes in doping control.
The doping tests carried out by FINADA in 2014 were divided equally between in-competition and out-of-competition tests.
In addition to normal testing activity, FINADA paid special attention to the development of doping control. Finland’s new Antidoping Code, amended according to the updated World Anti-Doping Code, has brought about significant changes in doping control.
‘Antidoping work has undergone rapid changes in recent years with regard to analytics and doping control. Athletes are monitored individually through mechanisms such as the Athlete Biological Passport and whereabouts information. In addition, doping control activity will be intensified through more thorough investigation of doping cases in cooperation with the authorities,’ says Katja Huotari, Doping Control Manager at FINADA.
According to the new Antidoping Code, doping samples may be kept and re-analysed for ten years. An example of such re-analysis was seen last summer when Finnish hammer thrower Olli-Pekka Karjalainen was awarded a European Championship gold medal after an eight-year delay.
‘Re-analysis has proved an effective means of doping control. It makes the athletes think about the consequences of their actions in the long term,’ Huotari says.
The new Antidoping Code also means more severe sanctions. However, there will also be more flexibility on a case-by-case basis. Discretion will be used, for example, in case of a minor athlete or unintentional use of medication.
FINADA’s doping test statistics
Further information:
Katja Huotari
Doping Control Manager, FINADA
Tel. +358 40 843 3897
Info corner:
Doping tests in Finland 2014
- Total number of tests: 3,020.
- Tests under FINADA’s national testing programme: 2,770. Of these, 81 were blood tests.
- Blood samples for the Athlete Biological Passport system: 276.
Doping tests in Finland 2013
- Total number of tests: 3,294.
- Tests under FINADA’s national testing programme: 2,877. Of these, 27 were blood tests.
- Blood samples for the Athlete Biological Passport system: 245.