On Wednesday, Anti-Doping Norway and the Ministry of Culture came up with a short-term solution, which means that Norwegian special federations and sports teams must obtain consent to doping tests in advance from the guardians of minor athletes – a solution to the ongoing anti-doping crisis that no one really thinks is good enough. Exactly what the solution will look like, and who will obtain this consent, will be presented to Idretts-Norge in a meeting on Monday afternoon. Anti-doping Norway has come up with a proposal for a solution – and at the same time believes that the Norwegian Sports Confederation (NIF) could solve the crisis already. – We suggested that sports could include the option for parents to give consent in the membership register, so that young people aged 15-18 can be tested. We have not been successful in that, says Anders Solheim, general manager of Antidoping Norway, to news. – Last resort On Friday, he met, among others, sports president Berit Kjøll for a debate on the topic at the National Sports Policy Arena (NIPA). After the debate, a very disappointed anti-doping leader met with news. – Now, in the precarious situation we are now in, we have to add all the cloths so that top Norwegian athletes can participate in international competitions. – Do you experience a reluctance from the sports association on this? – We have proposed it, then we will hear what the sports association says. There is a concrete proposal to solve this problem. We are a private foundation which is set up to carry out control and prosecution work. We have no authority to propose laws, to interpret laws or to adopt sport’s doping regulations. I think this is the last resort, says Solheim. Over the weekend, work has been done to find a solution. One of the challenges that has had to be resolved is who must obtain consent for doping testing of children and young people between the ages of 15 and 18. Nobody really wants to take on that responsibility. Anders Solheim explains that in order to obtain the consent of minor top athletes, the special federations must be on the field. Every single special association that has national team athletes, and top-level clubs with minors, must obtain consent. TRAVEL: Sports president Berit Kjøll does not have long before a proposal for a solution to the anti-doping crisis must be on the table. Photo: Fredrik Hagen / NTB Will not give reasons It is currently uncertain where NIF will land. Confronted with the fact that Antidoping Norway believes that NIF could solve the problem, Kjøll replies: – I don’t want us to point the finger at each other now. Now there is a process underway over the weekend that seeks to find a solution, where the proposal outlined by ADNO is one of the proposals. Then together we will arrive at something that will be presented to all our special associations on Monday. I look forward to that. – Do you agree that this could have been resolved? – There is a reason why it has not been resolved. I will not go into it now, because the working group is now looking at several alternative proposals that will be highlighted. What is then legally correct to do, and what is practical and easiest to do, will be presented on Monday. And I look forward to that, says Kjøll. The Norwegian anti-doping crisis In March 2018, a law firm at the request of Anti-Doping Norway assessed whether it was legal to test minors without parental consent. The conclusion was no. Antidoping Norway and the Norwegian Sports Confederation contacted the Norwegian authorities to get their assessment of the section in question. In October 2019, the Ministry of Culture issued its statement. They agreed with the law firm that there is no legal basis in Norwegian law for doping testing minors without consent. The conclusion has led to the fact that no underage athletes have been tested for several years. Anders Solheim, head of Anti-Doping Norway, believes the situation is unsustainable: – We do not want a sport where you can dope until you are 18 – without taking a test. It provides an opportunity to cheat and gain an unfair advantage, he says. Anti-doping Norway and the Norwegian Sports Confederation want a regulation or a change in the law that allows young people between the ages of 15 and 18 to give their consent to testing. news first wrote about the problem in April 2021, but the problem was still not solved. In August 2022, news revealed that the lack of testing is a breach of WADA’s rules, and that it could have major consequences for Norwegian sport in a relatively short time. Authorities have said they believe consent-based testing is valid, as WADA accepts solutions where nations obtain long-term consent from guardians. This is a solution Anti-doping Norway and NIF are fighting against: – If it is voluntary with consent, you can dope as much as you want. If there is forced consent, where you must have a parent’s consent to participate, you will risk not getting that consent. You also run the risk that those who need to be in the sport will not get this consent, explains Solheim. In the meantime, Norway is left without the opportunity to test minors in the third year, which means that talents can enter the top sport without having been tested for a long time. Takes self-criticism One of the questions that has arisen is how Norwegian sport is now in such a serious situation after having been aware of the problem for a long time. The sports board was informed about the consent issue in autumn 2020, according to Kjøll. At the same time, she claims that the seriousness only dawned on the association when Antidoping Norway and NIF notified the Ministry of Culture in June. – Shouldn’t NIF have considered that no testing of 15-18-year-olds could lead to Norway becoming “non-compliant” within a short period of time? – We became aware that Antidoping Norway did not test some time ago at one of our tripartite meetings. Our concern is to be at arm’s length to ADNO. We do not go in and monitor whether they test, when they test and who they test. So the seriousness of this issue only became known to us now when we made the joint inquiry to the authorities this June, says Kjøll. The sports president emphasizes that NIF has not been aware of the dialogue between ADNO and Wada. – But a natural consequence of not following the anti-doping code is to become a “non-complaint”. How can you say that you have not been aware of the severity? – We have, after all, addressed this issue continuously to the authorities in order to get a change in the law in place. We ran that race together with Antidoping Norway. That would solve these challenges. But we are not part of the dialogue between ADNO and Wada. We must maintain an arm’s length distance with our national anti-doping agency. We have done that. That this was now as serious as it was in June, we only found out this spring, says Kjøll. When asked whether it is the authorities that have not acted, or whether it is NIF that has not been able to bring out the seriousness, Kjøll replies: – We could certainly have been much harder. We see that now. It’s easy to have hindsight on that. But I don’t want to blame anyone – quite the contrary. Now here we are. Now we have to look up and put in place an immediate short-term solution, and a long-term solution that is lasting, she says.
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The sports president takes self-criticism after the anti-doping crisis – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
