Anti-Doping

This year, the FEI Anti-Doping Rules for Human Athletes (ADRHA) and Equine Anti-Doping and Controlled Medication Regulation (EADCMR) will undergo a full review in line with the introduction of the new WADA Code on January 1, 2021.

While some changes to the EADCMR will be mandatory to ensure that the FEI remains WADA compliant, the FEI has scope in some areas to adapt the rules to reflect the specificities of equestrian sport. For this reason, a survey was sent to all National Federations (NFs) and athletes to ask their opinions. The athletes know it is not possible to ask FEI to change all the legal issues that are not under its control, but they can ask to have the correct conditions to be sufficiently protected.

Riders clearly underlined how the risk of contamination and lack of stable security cause sleepless nights, and even worse, enormous harm. All riders live in fear that a great result will be tainted by a positive drug test that, after a lengthy and arduous process, is proven to be a case of contamination. Even a simple pat from a hand contaminated with a banned substance can result in a horse failing an anti-doping test.

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