The World Flying Disc Federation . 200 Linden . Fort Collins, Co 80524 970-484-6932 . [EMAIL PROTECTED] . www.wfdf.org
General Release: There have been a number of various responses to the release of the Official WFDF Anti-Doping Policy. We can assure you this process has been done with much discussion and in fact was initially posted and reported after our 2003 congress in Santa Cruz, California. WADA's list of substances was and has been listed since that time. The fact that we are implementing the Anti-Doping Policy now has nothing to do with the WUGC 2004 being held in Finland, where flying disc sports have had to conform to anti-doping regulations for over 10 years already. It has everything to do with the fact that the global movement of international sports federations against doping has set August 2004 and the summer Olympics in Athens as the target date for all sports federations to implement the WADA code. GAISF and IWGA have essentially said that we must implement WADA's doping policy if we want to continue to participate in The World Games and other such international competitions. It's simply a matter of fair play. This policy was a part of the World Games in Akita, Japan 2001. Teams were alerted to the standards and there were no significant problems. Ultimate had 5 athletes who were tested and there were no difficulties. Think more broadly of the implications of not accepting these policies. We would essentially be condoning the use of doping and drugs in sports. Although the steps we are taking appear to be very complicated, we do have the support of WADA in doing whatever is needed to try to implement them. For those who choose to participate at an international level in disc sports we must follow the rules of the international sport community. Beyond that, Ultimate is regulated by local laws and government just as any other activity. The actual costs of doping testing for participants of the World Championship tournaments will be very small i.e. less than USD $5 per player. Member associations of WFDF will be able to use their own discretion on how they implement doping control within their own competitive programs. The WFDF anti-doping program leading to WUGC 2004 is also set up in a way which will allow even the smallest member associations to comply with the rules, even if they don't have the resources to set up therapeutic use exemption (TUE) panels of their own. The suggested path for a national disc association to follow is to first look toward their own government supported anti-doping organisation for help as many countries provide a centralized anti-doping service for their own sports federations. If this does not work, you should then either consider establishing a TUE panel for your own association or refer the TUE requests to the WFDF TUE panel. Due to the complexity of the anti-doping process, the development of the process for WFDF took a longer time than expected. This has lead to the late date of the announcement. This, in turn, has lead to the situation that some players and federation may feel unprepared. The WFDF wants to make it clear that anti-doping rules give room for mitigation and that WFDF is ready to meet players and federations halfway, if problems arise. Under the circumstances, WFDF is doing their best to make the implementation of the rules go as smoothly as possible at WUGC2004. After WUGC in Finland, in order to improve the policies and procedures, the WFDF will ask for feedback. If you have concerns about the rules after having played a tournament under them, your views will be most welcome. Contrary to what many of the writers on various internet bulletin boards and newsgroups have suggested, the WFDF Anti-Doping policy is all about fair play and the safety of all our athletes. For an athlete, who does not use any foreign substances, the anti-doping program should pose no problem. For an athlete, who must use medication as treatment for a medical condition, obtaining a therapeutic use exemption will be simple enough. This is an on-going effort and specific details will continue to be outlined at wfdf.org. The movement to remove doping from sports is not just a WFDF movement, it is an International sports movement. Adopting an anti-doping policy is not about an aspiration to participate in the Olympics, it is about an aspiration to be recognized as a sport amongst sports. This is an opportunity to continue what we have begun as it relates to participating in the World Games, future opportunity with The World Masters Games and other international, multi-sport competitions. It is also about the ability of our member associations and clubs to be accepted as a sport on a local level and to be able to grow using all the avenues and facilities available to any other true sport. Most certainly adopting this policy has been and is a way of defining who we are and who we want to be. We are confident that the steps we have taken represent the views of the majority of disc players worldwide. We understand that there may be some who disagree with this policy, but we believe that we will gain much more than we lose in terms of players and audience by taking this path. On behalf of the WFDF Board of Directors, Bill Wright WFDF __________________________________________________ BritDisc mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://pootle.near.me.uk/mailman/listinfo/britdisc Staying informed - http://www.ukultimate.com/informed.asp
