FIFA’s fight against doping: WADA Code Compliance and an analysis of testing statistics

FIFA was one of the last Olympic federations to adopt the World Anti-Doping Code (the “Code”) when it signed a declaration in support of the Code prior to the Athens Olympics in 2004.¹ 

FIFA’s refusal to follow WADA in strictly imposing a two-year ban for serious doping violations, instead continuing their practice of determining sanctions on a case-by-case basis, led WADA to accuse FIFA of noncompliance with the Code in 2005.² In 2006, in accordance with an advisory opinion issued by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, FIFA amended its regulations to conform to the Code, imposing a minimum two-year ban from competition for first-time doping offences.³ FIFA also signed the revised version of the Code in 2009.⁴

FIFA’s regulations require compliance with anti-doping from all member associations internationally, and it carries out its own drug-testing in international completion.⁵ Additionally, FIFA, like WADA, has the ability to “police” decisions taken at a domestic level, meaning that if an association or federation applies too light a sanction, FIFA may appeal the decision to CAS. FIFA also has the power to take any ban given at the domestic level and widen it to have worldwide effect, so that a player may not look to compete abroad to avoid a ban.⁶