The IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federation, has come under intense scrutiny in recent months for the way in which it chooses to respond to a growing number of reports of failed doping tests for competitive athletes.
Motorsport until now has seen very few incidents in which competitors have been found to have fallen foul of the rulebook. It was with interest then to discover in the FIA AUTO publication that of doping tests carried out amongst competitors in 2014, 3.6% delivered a positive result. The article does not detail the total number of tests carried out, or the series in which the tests took place, but 3.6% is an alarmingly high number.
The FIA is a signatory to the World Anti-Doping Code, and so is bound by the List of Prohibited Substances and Methods (found here) this is the same code to which the IAAF is a signatory.
The FIA are tackling the issue head with the introduction of the ‘Race True – Anti Doping Educations Programme’ led by Sandra Silveira-Camargo, FIA head of Medical Affairs. The first session of this sort took place at the Belgian round of the World Endurance Championship. Should the training prove successful it will be repeated through F1, WRC, WRX, WTCC, F3, and Formula E.
Whilst no details of what constituents a positive result in a doping test have been revealed, nor the names of any participants involved. The 2014 results show that the issue of doping in motorsport does exist and it can not be ignored.
The FIA Auto Magazine from which this information was sourced can be found here
Wilde Consulting 