FIFA and a number of well-respected laboratories, such as the Le Laboratoire suisse d'analyse du dopage (LAD), have recently reviewed the current drug-testing procedures within football and have come up with a new approach.

The main, new aim will be to capture players’ individual steroid profile. In order to test this approach, FIFA will conduct a pilot study at the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2011, starting with out-of-competition doping controls to be conducted with all participating clubs.

As a result of this pilot study, amendments have been made to the out-of-competition doping control procedure. All teams participating in the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2011 are now included in the FIFA pre-competition testing pool (PCTP) in accordance with appendix D, art. 1 par. 2c) of the FIFA Anti-Doping Regulations, and every club will be required to provide FIFA with accurate details of their team activities (matches, training schedule, etc) during the period from 14 November to 8 December 2011.

FIFA will test all of the players from all clubs in order to be able to compare those steroid profiles with the samples that will be taken at the FIFA Club World Cup 2011.

The anti-doping procedure during this year’s FIFA Club World Cup will remain the same. For the in-competition testing, two players from each team will be tested at each match in accordance with the FIFA Anti-Doping Regulations (see appendix E, art. 1 of the FIFA Anti-Doping Regulations).

FIFA has a clear vision to keep football free of doping. Football as a team sport has the highest athlete numbers of all sports, making the effectiveness and efficiency of testing plans an ongoing concern.

It is FIFA’s duty therefore to protect players from harm and ensure that footballers can compete on an even playing field. FIFA’s anti-doping strategy relies on education and prevention, and FIFA bases any decisions related to their anti-doping programme on the specifics of the game, scientific evidence and analysis of validated doping statistics.

FIFA’s anti-doping strategy also respects the dignity and privacy of each player who is subject to testing.

What is an Individual Steroid Profile?

The steroid profile is composed by urinary excreted anabolic-androgenic steroids linked to Testosterone (T) and its metabolism. The main steroids constituting the steroid profile are Testosterone, Epitestosterone (E), Androsterone, Etiocholanolone, 5a-androstane-3a,17b-diol and 5b-androstane-3a,17b-diol.

Additionally some ratios involving these steroids, as the T/E ratio, are also used to establish the profile. The individual steroid profile is the determination of these selected markers regarding a specific athlete.

Click on the WADA technical document to the right to read about reporting and evaluation guidance for testosterone, epitestosterone, T/E ratio and other endogenous steroids.