Why is 1 January important for athletes?

Are you an athlete or a support person involved in a sport with an anti-doping policy?

If you answered yes then you need to mark 1 January as an important date in your diary—why?

Every year on 1 January, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) applies its new Prohibited List that identifies substances and methods prohibited in sport. Getting to know the Prohibited List and its changes can protect your career, your reputation and the integrity of your sport.

The Prohibited List identifies which substances and methods are prohibited in-competition, out-of-competition, as well as in some cases, by specific sport. Updated annually following an extensive consultation process facilitated by WADA, the List is valid from 1 January until 31 December.

A key change to the 2012 List that will affect Australian athletes and support personnel is the removal of formoterol from the List when taken by inhalation at therapeutic doses.

From 1 January, formoterol will be classified a ‘threshold substance’ that can now be used without a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) under a certain amount.

Athletes may at times need to use a prohibited medication to treat a legitimate medical condition. A TUE allows athletes to use, for therapeutic purposes, an otherwise prohibited substance or method. For further information, or to apply for a TUE, visit the Australian Sports Drug Medical Advisory Committee (ASDMAC) website.

WADA also has a monitoring program that focuses on substances that are not on the Prohibited List, but which it wishes to monitor in order to detect patterns of misuse in sport. WADA has confirmed that in 2012 it will be monitoring the effects nicotine can have on the performance of athletes when taken in oral tobacco products (like snus). WADA has stressed that it is not its intention to target smokers

The 2012 Prohibited List and the summary of modifications (including the changes relating to formoterol) are now available on WADA’s website and we encourage you to take a moment to familiarise yourself with them.

For further information about anti-doping in Australia visit the ASADA website or call 13 000 ASADA (27232).

Checking your medication status
Being an athlete and knowing whether a medication is permitted or prohibited in sport can be confusing. For information about the status of medications in sport visit the ASADA website to check your substances. This free online service will be updated on 22 December 2011 to reflect the latest changes to the Prohibited List.