Athletics NZ under scrutiny from global anti-doping body over fall in drug testing

Athletics NZ has been issued with a ‘please explain’ letter by international anti-doping body, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), for failing to meet international testing standards for its anti-doping programme.

The AIU has told Athletics NZ that the country’s athletes could face additional monitoring, including the same conditions imposed on nations like Kenya, Ethiopia and Belarus, if it does not improve its standards.

As reported by news website Stuff, the notice comes after New Zealand athletes competing at last year’s World Championships in Oregon, USA, were found to have been insufficiently drug tested in the lead-up to the event, contravening the sport’s anti-doping code.

Under rule 15 of World Athletics’ anti-doping rules, national federations are required to ensure that “there is an effective, intelligent and proportionate testing plan” in place for the pool of athletes from which the national team for any world championships or Olympic Games is likely to be selected.

The rules, which came into force in 2019 after a series of major doping scandals threatened to undermine the integrity of the sport, were put in place to ensure robust anti-doping programmes are being applied and enforced consistently across the sport.

In a series of emailed responses, Athletics NZ Chief Executive Peter Pfitzinger​ confirmed the 20-strong team selected for last year’s World Championships were not subject to the same rigorous level of drug testing as is standard.

However, Pfitzinger maintained his organisation had not been reprimanded or warned by the AIU, reportedly shifting the blame onto Drug Free Sport NZ (DFSNZ).

Pfitzinger wrote “it is DFSNZ’s responsibility to conduct tests on athletes in New Zealand. DFSNZ have advised us that due to Covid-19 they conducted about half as many tests as usual in 2022, including fewer out-of-competition tests on the athletes who were selected for our 2022 World Championships team.

“As there was no rule breach, we have already been advised by AIU that there are no sanctions.”

With no jurisdiction over national anti-doping organisations such as DFSNZ, the AIU instead places the onus on national federations to ensure appropriate measures are put in place.

World Athletics anti-doping rules make clear that if the relevant anti-doping organisation fails to meet the requirements for testing, it is the member federation that will be held in breach.

National federations are categorised annually by the AIU board, which is chaired by New Zealand’s David Howman, according to their doping risk in the sport and adherence to its obligations under rule 15.

Category A status is applied to countries deemed to be at high risk of doping and threaten the overall integrity of the sport. In 2022 seven countries were on the Category A list - Belarus, Bahrain, Ethiopia, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria and Ukraine.

If Athletics NZ were to be listed as a category A federation, it would be hugely embarrassing for New Zealand’s international reputation as a leader in the sports integrity space and create a number of financial and administrative headaches.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) was founded by the former International Association of Athletics Federations (now World Athletics) in April 2017 to combat doping in the sport of athletics.

It functions fully independently from World Athletics.