The ITA is set and ready to uphold fair play and clean sport at European Games Kraków-Małopolska 2023

After a preparatory period that began in the middle of 2022, ITA is fully prepared to deliver the anti-doping program for the third edition of the European Games, which will take place in Kraków and the Region of Małopolska in southern Poland over the next two weeks until 2 July. The EOC, as the umbrella body for Europe’s National Olympic Committees, entrusted the ITA with its operational clean sport program in early 2021 to provide a level playing field for athletes participating in its sporting events through the ITA’s knowledge, experience and expertise.

One of the main pillars of the ITA’s clean sport activities for Kraków-Małopolska 2023 is the testing program. The estimated 1,200 samples collected during these controls at the event can be urine, blood or Dried-Blood-Spot (DBS). For the implementation of the doping controls for the event the ITA relies on the collaboration with POLADA. It also collaborates with the Local Organising Committee to ensure the smooth delivery of the anti-doping program. Over 30 doping control stations distributed over the 25 venues in 13 cities/towns and the athlete’s village are set up as part of the clean sport program for the event. Samples will be analysed in the WADA-accredited laboratory in Warsaw.

The POLADA-managed anti-doping workforce for the European Games consists of 17 Polish doping control officers and over 40 doping control officers from 19 other European countries, all of whom are ITA-certified, and over 30 experienced phlebotomists from Poland. Together with around 120 chaperones, the ITA staff on-site and other support personnel, the anti-doping workforce for the event is over 260 people strong.

The ITA is furthermore responsible for the management of the Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs) for the event and the administration of the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) program.

The anti-doping program for the European Games 2023 is delivered in strict compliance with the World Anti-Doping Code and its connected International Standards. The ITA will closely collaborate with the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA’s) Independent Observer team that monitors the clean sport program for the event and will make sure to implement any potential corrective actions as swiftly as possible.

Any potential anti-doping rule violations that may arise as a result of these comprehensive clean sport initiatives will be independently processed by the ITA, ensuring impartiality and fairness.

“The ITA is proud to lead the independent anti-doping program for the Krakow-Małopolska 2023 European Games,” said Benjamin Cohen, Director General of the ITA. “Our unwavering commitment to upholding the concept of fair play will ensure that athletes competing in these Games can perform at their best with confidence, knowing that the best efforts will be made to uphold the integrity of the sport. We thank the EOC for entrusting the ITA with this important task, and the Organising Committee for their support. We also thank POLADA for the excellent collaboration during the months leading up to the event and we look forward to jointly executing the clean sport program for Kraków-Małopolska 2023. We are also pleased that through the ITA’s overarching work for the EOC and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), we have been able to foster opportunities for learning and knowledge transfer within the anti-doping community. Under a signed agreement between POLADA and the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD), French colleagues will be deployed during the European Games in preparation for the work that awaits us ahead next summer at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.”

EOC Secretary General Raffaele Pagnozzi said that “the EOC has entrusted the full management of anti-doping for its sports events to the ITA on the principle that anti-doping needs to be managed totally independently from the event organisers, and have further ensured the rights of athletes to fair judgement by entrusting the CAS ADD with the hearing process and the first-instance adjudication of alleged anti-doping rules violations. In this context, the ITA will be bringing forward and prosecuting anti-doping rule violations before the CAS ADD, thereby assuring complete independence both in the results management and adjudication of any violation. Ensuring that the European Games Kraków-Małopolska 2023 are clean and fair for all athletes has driven our work with the ITA. We thank them, POLADA and the Organising Committee for their continued cooperation and we are confident that the procedures put in place will stop any athlete who wishes to use prohibited substances from doing so.”

“The work at the European Games has an international dimension, but also a very national one. The Games take place in Poland. For us to be responsible for sample collection in our own country at such a major sporting event is a double honour,” says POLADA Director Michał Rynkowski. “Every doping control officer, every volunteer and all POLADA employees were properly trained, know their tasks and their responsibilities and are ready to start testing. We would like to thank the representatives of the ITA who professionally and to the highest standard helped us in our preparations before the European Games. We are proud to be able to take care of clean sport together.”

More information on the ITA’s anti-doping program for the 2023 European Games, including any relevant updates during the event, can be found here.