Rigorous drugs test for GAA players

The GAA will be "just another customer" in the Irish Sports Council's anti-doping programme according to Al Guy, the operations manager with the agency responsible for drug testing in Ireland.

A recent meeting between the Sports Council and the GAA concerning the anti-doping programme had cleared the way for testing of GAA players within the next few weeks.

The GAA were satisfied that they had no further outstanding issues regarding the programme, and the Association is due to sign a letter of authorisation in the immediate future.

It is expected that testing will begin before next month's quarter-final stages of the football and hurling championships. It will put all GAA players in the same pool for testing as those under the jurisdiction of the 49 other sporting governing bodies already participating in the anti-doping programme.

Guy was named operations manager for testing in Ireland when the Sports Council first introduced the anti-doping programme in September 1999.

The Swedish agency IDTM (International Doping and Testing Management) carry out the testing in Ireland on behalf of the Sports Council, as well as in some 75 other countries around the world. Guy has been certified with the agency for the past five years.

"We are contracted to do the testing and it doesn't matter if it is GAA players or soccer players of or rugby players," he says. "It doesn't matter who they are because they are all treated the same."

The GAA players will face exactly the same testing process procedure as the other sports, including out-of-competition testing as well as facing the possibility of being tested overseas.

The Sports Council has already carried out 310 tests in the last six months and has set a goal of 660 tests before the end of the year.

"The fact that the GAA is coming on board now is just another part of the process. Everyone will be treated the same. The out-of-competition testing will be no different either. The GAA are just another customer and it's just another group of athletes to be tested.

"And I'd be very surprised as well if they were not as well educated on the matter. It is a simple procedure and I think the Sports Council have done a very good job in getting their education carried out. I can't see it presenting a problem."

As well as the actual testing procedure, Guy also co-ordinates the sampling and ensures the quality of the testers and the integrity of the samples up until the time the courier transports them to London lab where the actual analysis is carried out.

From January to June of this year, 172 of the 310 tests were conducted in-competition and 138 out-of-competition. Overseas tests accounted for 24 of those, with the remaining 286 carried out in Ireland. Athletics was the most frequently tested sport in the first six months, with 65 athletes tested, followed by rowing (38), boxing (35) and cycling (29).

To assist in the testing process, the Sports Council have already published a handbook for Anti-Doping Officers. A medical doctor will be appointed to the Anti-Doping Unit over the coming weeks. They will assist with medical and pharmaceutical inquiries and with the development of the research and education programmes.

The Anti-Doping Unit has also received six expressions of interest to undertake research projects in response to an advertisement placed in the national newspapers.

The Sports Council has also endorsed an Irish Pharmacy Website at eirpharm.com. Eirpharm have developed an online service allowing athletes to check a database of all over-the-counter medicines available in Ireland to see if they contain substances prohibited by the International Olympic Committee. The service is designed to assist athletes who could inadvertently test positive as a result of taking a medicine for the common cold, cough, flu or hay fever.

"The format is designed to be user-friendly with products found under their better-known brand names," says Dr Audrey Kinahan of the website. "The format also addresses the confusion caused by the marketing of several different products with different ingredients as part of an overall brand range."