All 4,000 FIFA World Cup doping tests turned out negative – FIFA

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MOSCOW, July 13, 2018 (BSS/TASS)- All doping test samples, taken in the
run-up to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia and during the event, have
yielded a negative result, the international football governing body FIFA has
said.

“The testing program in place this year was the largest ever conducted for
a FIFA World Cup,” FIFA said on Thursday. “Once all of the qualified teams
for the final competition were known, FIFA developed a test distribution plan
(TDP) based on an analysis of doping risks for football. The TDP was shared
and agreed with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and consisted of a
dynamic, intelligence-based testing program.”

Since January 2018, a total of 2,037 tests have been conducted by FIFA,
national anti-doping agencies and confederations. This produced 3,985
samples. A total of 2,761 samples were collected directly by FIFA in
unannounced controls prior to the competition and 626 during it (including
108 collected on non-matchdays). One player was in possession of a
therapeutic use exemption for the substance detected.

FIFA has established a preliminary testing pool of more than 1,500 players
who were potential participants at the FIFA World Cup in Russia. In addition
to the tests directly conducted by FIFA, each national anti-doping
organizations (NADOs) and the respective confederations were contacted to
seek their assistance in testing the athletes in the lead-up to the
tournament. This close cooperation with other testing agencies allowed a
significant increase in the number of tests on participating players.

Besides, FIFA used the athlete biological passport program in WADA’s
“ADAMS” system. A special group, composed of independent experts, was set up
to review the data of players to detect potential deviations that may
indicate an abuse of performance-enhancing drugs.

All samples collected were analyzed at WADA-accredited laboratories, with
most of the analyses – particularly of all of the samples collected during
the competition – carried out to the laboratory in Lausanne, Switzerland. To
ensure a tamper-proof operation, FIFA transported all the samples in a secure
box of a type that is normally used by banks to transport money, which can
only be opened with an electronic key.