Anti-doping
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What is doping?
World Anti-Doping Code
The World Anti-Doping Code (the Code) is the main framework of the anti-doping system, setting out the rules that athletes must follow. The aim of the Code is to protect the rights of clean athletes. It has been adopted by the Olympic Movement, as well as sports bodies and anti-doping organizations worldwide. It is recognized by more than 170 governments (UNESCO International Convention against Doping in Sport).
List of prohibited substances
The List of Prohibited Substances and Methods is issued annually by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and is regularly updated, at least once a year. The updated new list usually comes into force each year on January 1. The list is divided into substances and methods that are prohibited at all times, and substances that are prohibited only in competition (mostly within 24 hours during competition).
It is every athlete’s duty to know which substances and methods are prohibited.
A permanently prohibited substance must not be used throughout the entire year, that is, neither during training nor during competition. If the result of a doping control is positive for a substance that the athlete used out of competition (when it was not prohibited), but the in-competition doping control test is positive (when it is prohibited), the athlete has violated anti-doping rules.
Prohibited substances may also be found in common medicines, such as painkillers, cold medicines, and flu medicines. Therefore, SADA has prepared an online database www.zakazanelatky.sk, through which athletes can verify whether a given medicine contains a prohibited substance or not.
You can find the brochure, where you will find examples of permitted medicines (categorized by individual disease groups), which an athlete may use, here: Permitted medicines
Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE)
One of the key principles of anti-doping is to protect the athlete’s health.
A situation may arise where, for health reasons, it is necessary to take a prohibited substance or use a prohibited method. According to the Code, such a situation can be addressed through a so-called Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE).
To grant a TUE, all of the following criteria must be met:
The athlete has a clearly diagnosed medical condition that requires treatment with a prohibited substance or the use of a prohibited method;
The therapeutic use of the prohibited substance or prohibited method is highly unlikely to lead to an improvement in sports performance compared to the athlete’s performance when healthy;
The prohibited substance or method is indicated for therapeutic use in treating the medical condition, and there is no other permitted therapeutic alternative;
The need to take the prohibited substance or use the prohibited method is not a consequence of prior use, or application (without a TUE), which was prohibited at the time of that use.
Athletes at both international and national levels must be aware of another important rule: a TUE must be granted in advance, not retroactively, except in health-threatening and exceptional situations.
TUEs for national-level athletes are granted by SADA. TUEs for international-level athletes are granted by the relevant international federation. Organizers of the Olympic Games or other major events may also grant TUEs. One cannot assume that a TUE granted by SADA at the national level will be automatically recognized at the international level as well. In case of any doubts, it is necessary to contact the international federation or the organizer of the major event.
More information about the TUE granting process can be found here: https://antidoping.sk/tue/
Dietary supplements
The regulation of nutritional supplements is generally minimal. Common supplements offered either in health food stores or online shops should not contain prohibited substances if they are not listed on the product label. In recent years, a considerable number of positive tests have been attributed to mislabeled or contaminated supplements.
If an athlete uses a supplement containing a prohibited substance, which subsequently results in an adverse analytical finding, the athlete cannot defend themselves by claiming they were unaware of the presence of the prohibited substance in the given supplement. Under WADA rules, the athlete is responsible for the presence of a prohibited substance in their body regardless of whether they took it intentionally or unintentionally.
You can read more in the guide Nutritional Supplements in Sport. It focuses on the risks associated with supplement use and a supplement classification system aimed at reducing the risk of violating anti-doping rules.
Rights and obligations of the athlete
An athlete has certain rights and responsibilities:
They must know and accept all anti-doping rules.
They are responsible for all substances that enter their body, that is, for everything they consume and drink, including medicines and dietary supplements they use. The basic rule is: what is in your body, you are responsible for it.
They must be available for sample collection for doping control purposes.
They must inform medical personnel that they are subject to anti-doping rules and must not undergo treatment containing prohibited substances. They also take responsibility for ensuring that any treatment they undergo is not in conflict with the Code.
They must cooperate with anti-doping organizations investigating violations of anti-doping rules.
Testing, sample collection and analysis
When an authorized doping control officer requests an athlete to provide a sample, they must do so.
The SADA Agency may at any time and anywhere request any athlete who is subject to its testing authority (including an athlete who has been banned) to provide a sample.
The National Anti-Doping Agency has the authority to test athletes:
who are nationals of that country, have permanent residence in that country, hold a license, or are members of sports unions (federations, associations) in that country, or
who are present in that country, where the national anti-doping organization carries out its activities, or
if requested by the international federation (association) that governs the given athlete.
The procedure for carrying out doping control is expressed at the sports-technical level by the WADA World Anti-Doping Code and its International Standard for Testing and Investigations. More information about the doping control process can be found here: https://antidoping.sk/dopingova-kontrola/
For the purpose of detecting the presence of a prohibited substance in an athlete's sample, only laboratories accredited by WADA are used. Urine samples may be frozen, stored, and re-tested for up to 10 years. Sample analysis technologies are evolving; some prohibited substances and methods that are not currently detectable may be revealed in the future. If samples have already been used for the purpose of detecting prohibited substances, they will be de-identified and used only for research, or they will be destroyed.
Return after ending an active sports career:
If you belonged to the international federation registry or the national testing registry, you must submit a written request 6 months in advance to the national anti-doping organization, or the international federation. During these six months, you will be subject to anti-doping regulation rules and must be available for testing before you participate in competition.
Whereabouts Information – ADAMS
ADAMS (Anti-Doping Administration and Management System) is an online database system created by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
If an athlete is included in the Registered Testing Pool, it is essential that they familiarize themselves with the ADAMS – Quick Guide for Athletes.
ADAMS enables the entry, storage, sharing, and provision of information about individual athletes and their whereabouts, doping controls, Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs), and any sanctions against athletes. This database facilitates information sharing among relevant organizations and aims to support effectiveness, efficiency, and transparency. This system is easy to use, available in multiple languages, and accessible worldwide via the internet 24 hours a day throughout the year.
The main purpose of whereabouts reporting is to facilitate out-of-competition testing. Providing whereabouts information allows the anti-doping organization to locate an athlete for the purposes of unannounced doping control. Such testing is the foundation of an effective anti-doping program.
If an athlete is notified that they have been included in the “Registered Testing Pool,” it means they must provide whereabouts information quarterly. The information includes locations and times of regular activities and known events (place of overnight stay, training, competition, training camp, work...) and one 60-minute time slot for each day during which the athlete must be available for possible testing. The athlete’s regular activities and 60-minute time slot must be continuously updated.
Education
Education and the provision of information are currently important tools for acquiring practical knowledge in an effort to help protect clean sport and ensure compliance with the World Anti-Doping Code. The International Standard for Education is an important instrument of the global anti-doping program. Its basic principle is the idea that an athlete should first become familiar with doping through education and not only directly during doping control. These requirements also imply the development of an educational plan by SADA and sports organizations, through which an anti-doping education strategy for athletes and their support personnel should be sensibly designed and planned.
SADA offers national sports organizations access to a wide range of educational tools, including:
free e-learning courses on the ADEL platform, (Instructions for logging in and finding a course in ADEL),
professional articles on nutritional supplements as well as prohibited substances,
Sports integrity
The integrity of sport is based on principles that ensure the natural uncertainty and unpredictability of the course and outcome of competition, as well as the same rules and conditions for competition participants before it begins and throughout its entire duration. There are two main reasons why it is disrupted. A financial reason, when a negative actor is motivated by the prospect of easy financial gain. And a sporting reason, when a negative actor is motivated by the prospect of easy sporting success. However, both of these reasons are why a quality sporting match turns into a cheap show program.
The most common forms and methods of undermining the integrity of sport are competition manipulation, corruption, conflicts of interest, or blackmail. Under Act No. 440/2015 Coll. on Sport and on the amendment and supplementation of certain acts, the basic duty of every athlete and national sports association is to protect the integrity of sport. This effort is also supported by an increasing number of various types of international sports organizations. They are increasingly making the possibility of membership and participation in competitions conditional on the active protection of the integrity of sport. As of 1 July 2025, the Anti-Doping Agency of the Slovak Republic has also joined this protection and is beginning to take steps in the areas of awareness-building, education, prevention, and the fight against these negative phenomena.
Reporting events and indications of breaches of the integrity of sport, including suspicions of such breaches, can be made in person at the premises of the Anti-Doping Agency of the Slovak Republic, by phone at 0905 381 486 or by email at integrita@antidoping.sk.
