FEATURE ARTICLE: DFSNZ Encouraging physios to Speak out about doping in sport

Encouraging physios to “Speak Out” about doping in sport.

Hayden Tapper, Investigations & Intelligence Manager, DFSNZ

Introduction

Drug Free Sport New Zealand (DFSNZ) is the organisation responsible for keeping sport clean in New Zealand, and free from doping. We work across New Zealand’s sporting community to protect clean athletes and promote clean sport. The February 2019 edition of the SEPNZ Bulletin featured an article about the physio’s role regarding athlete use of supplements and medications –to help avoid inadvertent doping. This article touches on the more sensitive area of athletes who might divulge information about doping to their physiotherapist.

There is no doubt that sport at all levels benefits from the dedication of time and expertise provided by physios and other medical professionals throughout the country. Enhanced treatment techniques and technology have improved the outcomes for many injured athletes and resulted in many victories on the sports field.

Physios can and will spend many hours with their athletes on the treatment table preventing or rehabilitating injuries. So much so that their role will often extend beyond the treatment table.

The many hours of contact time will often result in the physio becoming a confidant of sorts, where athletes talk about and divulge many details of their life. At the high-performance level, where physios travel overseas for periods for sport, they become an integral member of the team and are often the most informed about what’s really going on in the team.

The information divulged from an athlete to a physio can range from simple chit-chat about an injury treatment or what they got up to in the weekend, through to more serious and sensitive information about their personal lives or those of their teammates.

What can you do if one of your patients discloses information relating to doping or you suspect an athlete is doping?

You would not be the first medical professional to find yourself in this difficult situation –which may involve a patient you are treating or an associate of theirs. The Aotearoa New Zealand Physiotherapy Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (CEPC) has guidelines about patient confidentiality and the circumstances when confidentiality can be foregone. But there is an equally important part of the Code which deals with the health and wellbeing of a patient being a physio’s first priority.

The Sports Physiotherapy Code of Conduct also interprets and explains the principles contained with the CEPC as they relate to the sporting environment and includes a specific section on prohibited performance enhancing substances.

Prohibited substances or performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) are banned in sport because they give athletes an unfair advantage, but just as importantly, they are banned because they are harmful to the athlete’s health. In fact the revised 2021 World AntiDoping Code lists ‘health’ one of the primary reasons for having the Code.

If you suspect an athlete is doping or may be considering doping, your first option as a medical professional may be to discuss with the athlete the reasons that might be behind their behaviour and the health risks. We would also encourage you to report the matter to DFSNZ –in the interests of both the athlete’s health and clean sport.

You can report suspicions of doping without identifying the athlete (ensuring no breaches of the CEPC) and anonymously if you wish.

What information can be reported?

Any information, no matter how insignificant you think it may be, is valuable to DFSNZ.

Examples of the type of information reported include athletes being offered steroids or “gear” over social media or being offered unspecified “vitamins” by management or coaching staff. Others have reported conversations they have overheard about using drugs in sport.

Sports officials and competitors have reported suspicions about sudden dramatic increases in performance by some athletes and rumours they may have heard about drug use. We have also received information from people with concerns about the health of athletes they know.

Any suspicious doping activity can be subject of a report. It doesn’t matter when, where or who it involves. There is no such thing as bad information. If you have the smallest of suspicions, we would like to hear about it.

What does DFSNZ do with the information?

DFSNZ is not just about testing athletes. A major part of our work is educating athletes about the harm doping can cause and providing them with important information to help ensure they make the right choices and compete clean. Our preference is to educate athletes first and test second. But that is not always possible or practical.

A more recent evolution in the world of anti-doping is the increasing role intelligence and investigations plays in detecting (and deterring) doping in sport. This is evident at the macro level in recent doping scandals such as the Russian doping scandal and Alberto Salazar (athletics), which were uncovered as a result of information provided by individuals. But intelligence is also useful at the micro level in helping us determine the focus of our education programmes, which athletes or teams we might select for testing and where an anti-doping rule violation is strongly suspected, investigating that further. Anti-doping organisations around the world are being increasingly proactive in gathering and using intelligence to inform their anti-doping programmes.

At DFSNZ we assess every piece of information we receive and consider carefully what, if any, action to take. Even if we take no action, all information is stored in our database for future reference, subject to further information we might receive. It might be that we need one last small piece of the puzzle –so all information is important to us.

Where action is justified and if appropriate, DFSNZ may work with the person reporting the information, to glean further intelligence and formulate a plan of action that might include a targeted education plan, targeted testing, or further investigation.

Any information provided is treated in the strictest confidence and stored in a secure location.

So how can you report suspicious activity?

DFSNZ have recently launched our “Speak Out” programme. “Speak Out” encourages anyone to make a confidential report to DFSNZ if they see or hear something related to doping in sport. You can contact DFSNZ on 0800 DRUGFREE and speak to our Investigations and Intelligence Manager,

email

intel@drugfreesport.org.nz

or

make contact through the

Speak Out web page (drugfreesport.org.nz/reportdoping-in-sport).

While we would prefer to speak with you regarding to report to ensure we get the most accurate information, reports can be made anonymously if you prefer. Information we receive is kept in the strictest confidence.