Anti Doping

Tennis Northern support the national anti-doping organisation, Drug Free Sport New Zealand (DFSNZ) to:

• Promote a culture of clean sport
• Deliver anti-doping education|
• Organise and implement testing programmes
• Report doping and suspicious activity
• Support athletes to compete drug free

For full information about anti-doping, visit DFSNZ’s website

E-Learning Modules

Drug Free Sport New Zealand offers an online e-learning module to all athletes, coaches, and managers. Educate yourself by completing the online courses at https://e-learning.dfsnz.org.nz/login/

The anti-doping rules

All players in Tennis Northern competitions are required to abide by New Zealand’s Sports Anti-Doping Rules. These rules reflect the World Anti-Doping Agency’s world anti-doping code.

In summary, the 10 rule violations are:

• The presence of a prohibited substance or its metabolites or markers in an athlete’s sample
• The use or attempted use by an athlete of a prohibited substance or method
• Evading testing or refusing to provide a sample for drug testing
• Failing to provide accurate and up-to-date whereabouts information or missing a test
• Tampering or attempting to tamper with any part of the doping control process
• Possessing prohibited substances or methods
• Trafficking or attempting to traffic any prohibited substance or method
• Administering or attempting to administer a prohibited substance or method to an athlete
• Covering up an anti-doping rule violation
• An athlete associating with someone, such as a coach or medical professional, who has been found guilty of an anti-doping rule violation or equivalent

The prohibited list

The prohibited list is published by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) every year and details all substances and methods which are prohibited or banned in sport. A substance or method may be included on the list if it meets any two of the following criteria:

• It has the potential to enhance sporting performance
• It presents an actual or potential health risk to the athlete
• It violates the spirit of sport

The 2020 prohibited list is now in force and it is each athlete’s and athlete support person’s responsibility to make sure they understand the changes to the list so they are not caught out. Ultimately, athletes are responsible for the substances in their body and the methods on the List; and, athlete entourage are also liable for anti-doping rule violations if determined to be complicit. Consequently, if there is any doubt as to the status of a substance or method, it is important that you contact DFSNZ for advice. The most important rule for athletes to remember is that if you are not 100 percent sure, don’t take it until you check with DFSNZ and ensure it is not on the prohibited list. Points to note:

• There are very few changes likely to impact on athletes’ use of common medicines.
• The associated summary of modifications document is the easiest way to check for changes.
• In all cases athletes must insist that anyone prescribing or administering medications check against the current Prohibited List but also take into account any change from the 2019 list to the 2020 list.

Please click on the link below for the List or contact DFSNZ.

• The 2020 prohibited list
• 2020 summary of modifications and summary notes
• 2020 Monitoring Programme
• 2020 Clean Sport handbook
• 2020 Clean Sport wallet card

Medications

Many medications contain substances which are prohibited in sport. Any athlete who is sick or injured needs to carefully consider the medications they take to ensure they avoid prohibited substances.

Contact DFSNZ for full information on medications that are not permitted in sport.

DFSNZ’s website medication check

0800 DRUGFREE (378 437)

Request a copy of DFSNZ’s wallet guide on the status of common medications.

Athletes can apply for a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) if they need to take medication which is prohibited in sport. When competing at national or international level a TUE must be applied for before taking any medication.

Supplements

Many dietary or sports supplements are marketed as helping to improve performance, recovery, weight loss or muscle development, and, supplements can contain substances which are prohibited in sport and may not accurately label ingredients so you cannot be sure of exactly what’s in them.

Athletes should carefully assess their need for supplements and carefully research the supplements they choose to take.

Drug Free Sport New Zealand (DFSNZ) together with High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ) have released a supplements guide to assist athletes understand the risk inherent in supplements before they make a decision to take them. The guide aims to increase awareness of the risks associated with supplement use and to help athletes and support personnel make more informed decisions.

DFSNZ can provide some assessment of the level of risk associated with supplements and may be able to identify products which are known to be a problem. However, DFSNZ cannot approve any supplement product or its use.

The athlete whereabouts programme

Anti-doping organisations, including DFSNZ, conduct drug tests on athletes out-of-competition with no advance warning. The athlete whereabouts programme allows DFSNZ to locate athletes for testing.

Testing

Drug testing is one of the best ways to identify athletes who are doping and to protect athletes who are clean competitors. Athletes can be tested during an event (in-competition) or at any other time (out-of-competition) and will be asked to provide a urine sample, a blood sample or both.

The testing process and sample collection for doping control will be carried out by a trained and accredited Drug Free Sport NZ official.

Electronic notification letters introduced for test results

Drug Free Sport NZ (DFSNZ) uses a paperless way of notifying athletes of their negative drug test results – a notification email will be sent to athletes with links to their own unique account within a secure athlete website.

Electronic notification letters will remain highly confidential, requiring each individual athlete who is not in the registered testing pool (RTP) or the national testing pool (NTP) to create a unique username and password to access their results from anywhere in the world.

RTP/NTP athletes:
If you are an RTP or NTP athlete, you will now be notified via email that your test results are available to view. The email will contain a link which will take you straight through to your whereabouts page. From there you can simply click on the ‘Profile’ tab and your results letter will be viewable.

Other athletes:
If you are not an RTP or NTP athlete, you will receive a notification email but to access your results you must first create an account for the secure website. After creating your account and logging in you will find your results letter in the completed tests section under the profile tab. This login and page will be unique to you for the rest of your sporting career as an athlete.

Help

If you have any questions, please contact DFSNZ on 0800 DRUGFREE (378 437)