Sports: Drugs

(asked on 8th June 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many tests have been carried out by Doping Control Personnel in athletes' homes since 17 March; and how many athletes declared in advance of these tests that they were living with people who are (1) at higher risk from, or (2) clinically extremely vulnerable to, COVID-19.


Answered by
Baroness Barran Portrait
Baroness Barran
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This question was answered on 22nd June 2020

UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) publishes its doping test figures on a quarterly basis to preserve the integrity of the test allocation process and ensure the “no advance notice” testing principle is protected. Therefore, UKAD’s figures for the in- and out-of-competition tests it has carried out since 17 March 2020 are only partially available.

Testing figures for Q4 of 2019/20, which covers January-March 2020, have been published on UKAD’s website. According to this report, the domestic and international Anti-Doping Testing Programme carried out 2,512 tests during this period. Testing figures for Q1 of 2020/21, which covers April-June 2020, will be published after the period is complete.

Athletes are not required to declare in advance of tests if they, or anyone they are living with, are at higher risk from, or clinically extremely vulnerable to, COVID-19. UKAD has asked athletes and National Governing Bodies to provide this information to help their planning, however does not have plans to make this publicly available.

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