Anti Doping

American Football Ireland (AFI) fully supports Sports Ireland’s Anti-Doping Programme and is committed to ensuring that American Football is drug free. In accordance with the World Anti-Doping Code, AFI works with Sport Ireland to educate athletes and support personnel on negative effects of doping to both the athlete and the sport.

All athletes should be aware of what happens in a drug test and their rights and responsibilities as well as how to check their medication against the prohibited list and how some medications are exempt based on their therapeutic use

Education

Sport Ireland has comprehensive information on their website on how athletes and support personnel can educate themselves to understand the dangers of doping. There is an interactive e-learning education program available that covers topics such as Doping Control Procedures, consequences for your health and the WADA Prohibited list. To access this program, please click the banner below:Real Winner Course

What happens in a drug test

The Anti-Doping Unit within Sport Ireland performs all drug tests but there will be an AFI Anti-Doping Officer present for all testing. Full details of the steps involved in a drug sample and an athlete’s rights and responsibilities are available on Sport Ireland’s What Happens During a Drug Test page.

How to check your medications

Should you be prescribed medications by a GP/consultant, you should always remind them that you are an athlete that is subject to drug testing. All athletes should check the status of all prescribed and over-the-counter medications using one of the may resources available on Sport Ireland’s How to Check your Medication page. This page has a list of websites and apps that you can use to check your medications, depending on where they were purchased from.

Therapeutic Use Exemptions

A TUE permits an athlete to use a prohibited substance or method if the substance or method is medically required. Athletes can only get a TUE if there is no unfair advantage from taking the substance or using the method. The criteria for determining whether a TUE is granted are defined by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) as follows:

  • The athlete would experience a significant impairment to their health without the use of the prohibited substance or method
  • The therapeutic use of the prohibited substance or prohibited method would produce no additional enhancement of performance
  • There is no reasonable therapeutic alternative to the use of the otherwise prohibited substance or prohibited method

For more information on TUEs and how they can be applied is available at the TUE Information Page.

We encourage all our athletes to view Sport Ireland’s Athlete’s Zone page for full information on anti-doping in Ireland.