The Olympic Movement promotes ethical sports, fair play and peace by means of sports. The Olympic Committee and the Paralympic Committee perform visible international anti-doping work in their major events. They organise the Olympic and Paralympic Games every four years and are responsible for the anti-doping activities of the athletes who participate in these games. The International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee are committed to the World Anti-Doping Code. FINCIS cooperates actively with the Finnish Olympic Committee and the Finnish Paralympic Committee in matters concerning sport ethics. The Finnish Olympic Committee and Paralympic Committee are also members of FINCIS.
The Olympic Movement promotes ethical sports, fair play and peace by means of sports. The International Olympic Committee and the Paralympic Committee perform visible anti-doping activities in their major events. They organise the Olympic and Paralympic Games every four years and are responsible for the anti-doping activities of the athletes who participate in these games. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was founded in 1894 and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) was founded in 1989.
Anti-doping activities
The Finnish Olympic Committee and the Finnish Paralympic Committee are committed to complying with and promoting the sports community’s ideals and goals of fair play and fighting doping both in Finland and internationally. The significance of anti-doping activities is described in the Ideals and Goals of Fair Play (in Finnish) and the organisations’ anti-doping programmes. The anti-doping programmes of the Olympic and Paralympic Committees are based on the idea that doping cannot be approved of in any form and that anti-doping rule violations are to be prevented through education and communications.
The Olympic Committee and the Paralympic Committee are committed to the World Anti-Doping Code that regulates anti-doping activities, the specific provisions for Olympic and Paralympic Committees included in the code and Finland’s Anti-Doping Code.
Athletes and their support personnel involved with sports are obliged to comply with the currently valid codes and the related standards. Athletes and coaches supported by the Olympic Committee’s Top Sports Unit must sign an athlete/coach agreement which obligates them to comply with the currently valid World and Finland’s Anti-Doping Codes. Athletes and other team members must also sign an agreement if they are called up to an Olympic Committee’s team participating in a competition. In addition, sports and federations that receive the top-level sports improvement subsidy are contractually obligated to comply with the codes.
Organisations arrange anti-doping activities especially during their major events and are responsible for the anti-doping activities aimed at the athletes participating in the events, such as education, training and communication.
General ethical issues
The activities of the Olympic Committee and the entire sports community are based on the responsibility programme established by the Olympic Committee in close collaboration with sports federations. The programme provides the framework for the responsibility efforts and it can be used by the entire sports community from clubs and federations to various sports and exercise environments.
The programme defines the goals for responsible sports and exercise:
- Activities must be transparent, open and inclusive.
- Sports must give pleasure and positive experiences. No-one must be bullied, harassed or subjected to any type of inappropriate behaviour.
- Everyone is welcome to join in.
- Sustainability for future generations.
- Clean and fair sports.
The Olympic Committee supports sports federations and clubs in implementing the programme, apart from the themes FINCIS is responsible for: anti-doping activities, prevention of manipulation of sports competitions and promotion of spectator comfort and safety.
Education and training in cooperation
In cooperation with FINCIS, the Olympic Committee and the Paralympic Committee arrange regular anti-doping education and training sessions and related communications in their events and camps and info sessions and other events arranged in advance for Finnish teams participating in international competitions, such as Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Youth Olympic Games, European Championships, World University Games and Youth Olympic Festivals. In addition, members of Finnish teams managed by the Olympic Committee participating in multi-sport competitions must complete the FINCIS Clean Win online training. The purpose of this training is to increase various target groups’ awareness of matters related to anti-doping and help them make ethically sustainable choices in top-level sports. Through communications, the message of clean sports and fair play can be advanced.
Cooperation is also performed in providing the sports academy network, secondary school camps and the personnel of the Top Sports Unit with anti-doping education and training. Material for secondary school and sports institutions at the upper secondary level in the sports academy network has been created from the FINCIS’ exercises in the exercise books titled Kasva urheilijaksi and Kehity huippu-urheilijaksi. Sports academies also have their own plans regarding anti-doping activities.
Matters related to anti-doping are also taken into account in the secondary school camps arranged by sports institutes. Each sports institute has an expert trained by FINCIS. Secondary school camps are camps coordinated by an sports academy of the Olympic Committee that are aimed to support the growth of a young athlete on their way to a goal-oriented career, develop skills and expertise in various areas and help the young athlete in maintaining a balance between sports and school. Secondary school camps are arranged by sports institutes in cooperation with sports organisations, schools and sports academies.
The Golden Baton of clean sports challenges its receiver to promote clean sports and to commit to its values. Golden Batons are passed on in the championship leagues, international sports events and sports institutes of Finland. Every year, sports academies and institutes challenge a new party to grab the baton and create new ideas to promote the message of clean sports.
In addition to matters related to anti-doping, the co-operation in education and training also emphasises harassment and inappropriate behaviour, for instance. The Olympic Committee and Väestöliitto were involved in the Harassment-free Sports educational tour organised by FINCIS. The tour was implemented in 2019–2020. Training material titled Seksuaalinen ja sukupuoleen perustuva häirintä urheilussa (Sexual and gender-based harassment in sports) related to the topic has been published. The Olympic Committee will be responsible for the training related to the topic in the future.