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WADA issues revised International Standard for Results Management with minor amendments
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) issues a revised International Standard for Results management (ISRM), which was approved by WADA’s Executive Committee (ExCo) on 20 May 2021 with immediate effect.
This new version has minor amendments, which are summarized below and available on WADA’s website, that were made to ensure the ISRM’s alignment with various WADA Technical Documents and the latest version of the International Standard for Laboratories (ISL).
- Article 3.6
At the time the ISRM was drafted, the definition of “Adaptive Model” was a defined term from the 2019 International Standard for Laboratories (ISL). In the 2021 version of the ISL, which was adopted at the November 2020 Executive Committee Meeting, the term “Adaptive Model” was removed as the ISL articles no longer referred to this term. However, the term “Adaptive Model” is used 18 times in the ISRM, specifically, Annex C – Results Management Requirements and Procedures for the Athlete Biological Passport.
In addition, the definition of “Athlete Passport Management Unit Report” is currently a defined term in one Technical Document, namely the WADA Technical Document related to the Athlete Passport Management Unit Requirements and Procedures (TDAPMU). However, this defined term is used seven times in the ISRM, specifically, Annex C – Results Management Requirements and Procedures for the Athlete Biological Passport.
Therefore, these two definitions concerning the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP), namely “Adaptative Model” and “Athlete Passport Management Unit Report”, were moved from the ISL and the TDAPMU respectively to the ISRM, where both definitions are better suited.
- Article 5.1.2.3
The Comment to article 5.1.2.3 of the ISRM referred to article 5.3.4.5.4.8.5 of the 2019 ISL and reflected the three-month deadline for the “B” Sample confirmation to be performed. Since the adoption of the 2021 version of the ISL in November 2019, article 5.3.4.5.4.8.5 of the 2019 ISL has become article 5.3.6.2.3 in the 2021 ISL and its relevant part was amended as follows:
If the “B” Confirmation Procedure is to be performed, either upon the request of the Athlete or the Testing Authority or Results Management Authority, it should be performed as soon as possible after the Testing Authority or Results Management Authority, as applicable, has provided such notice to the Laboratory.
The Comment to article 5.1.2.3 of the ISRM was amended accordingly.
- Comment to Article 8.6
The last sentence of the World Anti-Doping Code (Code) definition of “Operational Independence” was missing in the Comment to Article 8.6 of the ISRM.
For reasons of consistency between the Code and the ISRM, the missing sentence was added to the Comment to Article 8.6 of the ISRM.
- Articles C.2.1.6 and C.2.1.6.1
The “Suspicious Steroid Profile” (SSP) system was conceived in 2014 in part to deal with (i) unmatched samples due to the lack or delayed entry of Doping Control Forms (DCFs) at the time, (ii) the fact that some athletes may have had existing steroid data prior to 2014 indicating an elevated T/E not requiring Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS), and (iii) the heterogeneous use of external Athlete Passport Management Units (APMUs). With the mandatory entry of DCFs, the collection of six years of ABP data, and the mandatory use of WADA-approved APMUs, revisions to the SSP system were needed.
The ISRM was amended accordingly in order to provide flexibility to make changes to the SSP notification system of the steroid module in the Technical Document related to the Measurement and Reporting of Endogenous Anabolic Androgenic Steroids (EAAS) Markers of the Urinary Steroid Profile (TDEAAS) and the TDAPMU without contradicting the ISRM.
The purpose of the ISRM is to set out the core responsibilities of Anti-Doping Organizations with respect to Results Management. In addition to describing certain general principles of Results Management, the Standard also sets out the core obligations applicable to the various phases of Results Management from the initial review and notification of potential Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs), through Provisional Suspensions, the assertion of ADRVs and proposal of Consequences, the Hearing Process until the issuance, and notification of the decision and appeal.
Should you have questions or comments on the revised ISRM, please feel free to contact WADA’s Results Management Unit at: rm@wada-ama.org.
