9 July 2019
FIL and ITA are pleased to announce that they have entered into a partnership relating to the management by the ITA of FIL’s anti-doping Program effective immediately.
Under this Agreement valid, the ITA will manage all aspects of FIL’s anti-doping program. FIL will however continue to deliver anti-doping education to its national associations and athletes and will delegate to the ITA on a case by case basis the management of alleged anti-doping rule violations. FIL will also continue to administer its long term storage & re-analysis policy.
This partnership is a very important step in FIL’s anti-doping efforts and marks a decisive stance in support of clean sport.
FIL’s Executive Director Mr Christoph Schweiger and ITA Director-General Mr Benjamin Cohen signed the Partnership Agreement at the ITA HQ in Lausanne, Switzerland
“The ITA is grateful for the trust placed in the ITA and will work hard to provide FIL with top-class services. FIL’s athletes and community should feel absolutely confident that all appropriate measures are taken to ensure that athletes can compete in a healthy and clean environment with fair competitions”, said ITA Director General Benjamin Cohen.
“We at the FIL are happy about the collaboration and our contract with the ITA. We trust the ITA’s expertise and we are certain that there can be no doubt about how seriously the FIL deals with its anti-doping matters. We look forward to the long-term professional handling of the FIL’s anti-doping matters through our collaboration with the ITA”, said FIL President Mr Josef Fendt and FIL Secretary-General Mr Einars Fogelis.
The ITA will implement on behalf of FIL a robust program in full compliance with the World Anti-Doping Code and ensure that intelligence-led testing efforts are applied throughout the period starting now all the way until the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.
About FIL
The International Luge Federation (Federation de Luge de Course / FIL) is officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the World Federation for the sport of luge. The FIL is the only representative of the International sport of luge, represents the interests of the sport of luge worldwide, and is the highest authority in all matters concerning the sport of luge. 53 countries are currently member of the FIL, who was founded in 1957. Two years later, luge competitions (men, women, double) were included in the program of the Olympic Winter Games. First appearance was in 1964 at the IX. Olympic Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria.