Consequences of Doping

There are 11 Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs). Some of them also apply to athlete support personnel and other persons.

1. Presence of Prohibited Substance
2. Use or Attempted Use of a Prohibited Substance or a Prohibited Method
3. Evading, Refusing or Failing to Submit to Sample Collection
4. Whereabouts failures
5. Possession of Prohibited Substance
6. Administration of a Prohibited Substance or a Prohibited Method
7. Tampering or attempted tampering any part of the Sample Collection
8. Trafficking or attempted trafficking
9. Complicity or Attempted Complicity
10. Prohibited Association
11. Acts by an Athlete or Other Person to Discourage or Retaliate Against Reporting to Authorities

What that means for you....

Athletes need to make sure they are fully aware of ALL the Anti-Doping Rule Violations and what the consequences are for breaking them. Refusing a test, as an example, could lead to four-year ban.

And remember, ADRVs are just like the rules in sport – it’s out or it’s in, it’s an official time or it’s not – but that is not everything.

Clean sport is more than rules – it is also how you train and compete in sport, and how you conduct yourself both on and off the field of play.

Doping can have a financial, legal and social consequences.

Social consequences

The life of an athlete who was found guilty of doping may be completely disrupted. Indeed, doping may represent a danger for the health but it may also be prejudicial to fame, respect and credibility. Even future negative findings are regularly questioned by the media and others. The poor image will remain in the collective unconscious and the athlete will remain isolated.

Financial consequences

As regards high-performance sport, an infringement of anti-doping rules often leads to a loss of income, the reimbursement of prize moneys and of sponsorship money. An athlete suspended for several years, or even banned for life, cannot earn his/her living as usual and can even be forced into debts to live on a day-to-day basis.

Legal consequences

Doping may have major legal consequences. A doped athlete may be suspended, i.e. he/she may not take part in sport competition or in organised training sessions.

But the most important, doping may have very severe health issues.

Medical consequences

Physical health: depending on the substance, the dosage and the consumption frequency, doping products may have particularly negative side effects on health. Some damages for the body are irreversible and may lead that the athlete’s life be in great danger.

Some examples that were scientifically evidenced are:

• Acne,
• Palpitations,
• Headaches,
• Anemia,
• Diabetes,
• Thyroid problems,
• Muscle cramps,
• Dizziness or fainting,
• Liver damage,
• Premature closure of the growth centers of long bones,
• Stunted growth and disruption of puberty in children,
• Increased heart rate and blood pressure,
• Increased risk of stroke, heart attack, and cardiac arrhythmia,
• Respiratory diseases, etc...

Psychological health: some doping substances may not be detrimental to the body but exercise an impact on mental health. It was scientifically evidenced that:

• Anxiety,
• Sleep Problems - Insomnia,
• Irritability,
• Increased aggressiveness,
• Depression,
• Obsessive disorders,
• Resulting in abnormal sexual behaviour,
• Dependence,
• Psychosis are direct consequences from doping
• Mood instability.