Irish Sports Council Hosts Anti-Doping Information Day

The information day was an opportunity for leaders in the Irish sporting community to discuss changes in the areas of sanctions, new rule violations, results management, statute of limitations, contaminated products and investigations.

Over 100 Anti-Doping professionals from the sports community attended the event in Croke Park which featured presentations from Dr. Una May (Director of Anti-Doping, ISC), Gary Rice (Partner, DAC Beachcroft) and Travis T. Tygart (CEO, USADA).

The Irish Anti-Doping Rules are being updated to be in compliance with World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) 2015 World Code and the WADA International Standards and will come into effect from January 1, 2015.

Speaking at the event, Minister for Sport, Michael Ring TD, said: “I am delighted to have the opportunity to open such an important event. We in Ireland are committed to inspiring fair play in sport and protecting the rights of clean athletes.

“Through the Irish Sports Council, we continue to make substantial progress in the areas of testing, education and research and are internationally recognised at the forefront of world anti doping through the application of the Irish Anti-Doping Programme.”

During the event, the Irish Sports Council launched its new Anti-Doping awareness campaign, #BlackMark. The campaign aims to raise awareness of the Anti-Doping programme and promote the message of clean sport.

John Treacy, CEO of the Irish Sports Council commented: “We are particularly privileged to have the CEO of the US Anti-Doping Agency, Travis T. Tygart, here with us, a leading advocate for clean sport.

“The Irish Sports Council is proud of our collaborations with our international colleagues and intelligence agencies on doping activities and trends so that we can ensure that our Programme continues to be one of the best anti-doping programmes in the world.”