Call to action for safeguarding in anti-doping

Substance use in elite and recreational sport

“…Similarly, as raised by Piffaretti et al [15] in their contribution to the present issue, elite athletes who are under or have received a sanction for an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) are at particular risk of developing mental health issues. As they argue in their commentary, the premiss that all doping behaviours are foremost grave moral failures that must be harshly punished must be abandoned.…”

“…This can be especially so when the intent to dope is not clear, since a large number of athletes with an ADRV likely did not intend to illicitly seek performance enhancement but fell victim to the harsh strict liability rule of anti-doping (up to 40% of ADRVs according to De Hon et al [16]). As Piffaretti et al note, all athletes with an ADRV need and deserve help, and it is important that we resign the "moral" approach to anti-doping for a "health-based" approach to uphold a comprehensive safeguarding practice [15].…”