Clean Sport / Anti-Doping

World Abilitysport is committed to the protection and promotion of clean sport at all its competitions. This includes wheelchair fencing and powerchair hockey, for which it is the global governing body, and the World Games.

Doping is fundamentally contrary to the spirit of sport.

The anti-doping programme aims at preserving the intrinsic value of sport. This intrinsic value is often described as the “spirit of sport”, it is the essence of Olympism, the pursuit of human excellence through dedicated perfection of each person’s natural talents. It is how we play true. The spirit of sport is the celebration of the human spirit, body and mind and it is reflected in values we find in and through sport, including:

• Health
• Ethics, fair play and honesty
• Athletes’ rights as set forth in the Code
• Excellence in performance
• Character and Education
• Fun and joy
• Teamwork
• Dedication and commitment
• Respect for rules and laws
• Respect for self and other Participants
• Courage
• Community and solidarity

 The principle of Strict Liability

The principle of strict liability is applied in situations where urine/blood samples collected from an athlete have produced adverse analytical results.

It means that each athlete is strictly liable for the substances found in his or her bodily specimen, and that an anti-doping rule violation occurs whenever a prohibited substance (or its metabolites or markers) is found in bodily specimen, whether or not the athlete intentionally or unintentionally used a prohibited substance or was negligent or otherwise at fault.

Find out more about the principle of Strict Liability

Anti-Doping Rule Violations

Anti-doping rule violations are not restricted to the use of prohibited substances and/or methods.

Apart from positive doping tests, any and all infringements below are considered to be infringements to the Anti-Doping Rules and are sanctioned by a suspension or another disciplinary sanction:

• Presence of a prohibited substance or its metabolites or markers in an athlete’s sample
• Use or attempted use by an athlete of a prohibited substance or a prohibited method
• Evading, refusing or failing to submit to sample collection by an athlete
• whereabouts failures by an athlete
• Tampering or attempted tampering with any part of doping control by an athlete or other person
• Possession of a prohibited substance or a prohibited method by an athlete or athlete support person
• Trafficking or attempted trafficking in any prohibited substance or prohibited method by an athlete or other person
• Administration or attempted administration by an athlete or other person to any athlete in-competition of any prohibited substance or prohibited method, or administration or attempted administration to any athlete out-of-competition of any prohibited substance or any prohibited method that is prohibited out of competition
• Complicity or attempted complicity by an athlete or other person
• Prohibited association by an athlete or other person
• Acts by an athlete or other person to discourage or retaliate against reporting to authorities

The World Abilitysport Anti-Doping Code

Together with other International Federations, our national members and the International Paralympic Committee, World Abilitysport’s predecessor IWAS developed the organisation’s Anti-Doping Code.

This document conforms to the general principles of the World Anti-Doping Code from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

The Anti-Doping Code aims to prevent doping in sport for athletes with an impairment by:

• Protecting an athlete’s fundamental right to participate in a doping free environment in sport and thus promote good health, justice and equality for athletes world-wide
• Ensuring harmonious, co-ordinated and effective anti-doping programmes throughout an athlete’s competitive pathway with regard to detection, deterrence and prevention of doping

Information and resources

In addition to the Anti-Doping Code, WADA also has a variety of information and tools available for athletes.

There is an interactive Play True Quiz to test knowledge on anti-doping, as well as online resources for athletes and coaches.

For wheelchair fencing, as part of its role as the International Federation, World Abilitysport has a registered testing pool and maintains annual statistics for in and out of competition tests.