Is unintentional doping real, or just an excuse?

Abstract

There has been increased attention on athletes' intentions and motives for doping. However, the majority of studies on doping intentions to date have assumed that doping is a consciously-controlled, goal-directed behaviour, and neglected the possibility that athletes could be unwittingly and unintentionally exposed to doping. Unintentional doping is often regarded as an excuse given by athletes caught doping, but it could happen in circumstances where athletes are unaware that the food, drinks, supplements, or medications they consume contain banned performanceenhancing drugs. Research into unintentional doping is in its infancy, but debates persist about the importance of this controversal topic. In this article we discuss the importance of unintentional doping as an issue in sport. We discuss the relevance of this research area based on statistics, reports, and recommendations (e.g., antidoping codes) offered by WADA, together with the evidence from recent empirical research. We also outline the importance of formative research on effective interventions to manage unintentional doping.

Dietary Supplement and Food Contaminations and Their Implications for Doping Controls

“…However, there are different scenarios where such an Adverse Analytical Finding (AAF) does not necessarily result from a deliberate application of a performance-enhancing/banned drug (vide infra). Such cases of inadvertent doping include the ingestion of adulterated or faked dietary supplements, tainted food, and contaminated drugs, as well as passive exposure to doping agents or an insufficient education of the athletes with regards to changes of the Prohibited List annually revised by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) [2][3][4][5][6]. According to WADA's policy of strict liability, an athlete is responsible for the substances found in his/her doping control samples and anti-doping rule violations (ADRVs) occur regardless of his/her intention [1,7].…”

“…Possible consequences comprise not only temporary or permanent suspensions, but also loss of medals and/or records, financial sanctions, damage to the athlete's reputation, and failed sponsorships [3,8]. However, the decision-making processes are flexible to consider the circumstances, so that clear evidence about the origin of the detected prohibited substance can potentially lead to reduced sanctions [1,4,7]. On the other hand, it cannot be excluded that athletes occasionally argue with contamination scenarios in an attempt to excuse an AAF in order to avoid impending penalties [2,5].…”

Annual banned‐substance review – Analytical approaches in human sports drug testing

“…The deliberate act of doping in sport has been shown to be fueled by various different factors, appellatively summarized as a dopogenic environment by Backhouse et al, ranging from (amongst others) the enormous overall demands of the modern sporting life that might exceed an athlete's personal resources to local level factors such as the athlete's team, coach, physicians, and peers as well as sport motivation . In addition, presumably or evidently inadvertent antidoping rule violations (ADRVs) have continued to be recorded, underlining the importance of education and information of the athletes’ support personnel and health care professionals . A recent exhibit in support of the need for constantly improving anti‐doping efforts in general but also for the enormous potential and the complementary nature of continuously enhanced analytical methods and police investigations was Operation Aderlass in 2019 .…”

Implicit versus explicit attitude to doping: Which better predicts athletes’ vigilance towards unintentional doping?

“…The World Anti-doping Agency's (WADA) strict liability policy states that doping is a violation, regardless of whether it is intentional or unintentional. Athletes found guilty of doping in sport are often blamed for their intention to cheat by illegally enhancing their sport performance 1 .…”

“…Of course, intentional doping does occur and anti-doping procedures are geared toward identifying and sanctioning cheats, but research also indicates that athletes can dope accidentally if they unintentionally or unwittingly take banned substances through the form of food/drink, medication, and/or nutritional supplements 1 . Accordingly, athletes and their entourage (e.g., trainers, coaches, managers, and parents) need to be vigilant in ensuring that the foods or substances consumed by the athletes do not contain ingredients that are prohibited in sport.…”