Sostanze dopanti: la Commissione Medica Sportiva della Fifa non effettuerà controlli retroattivi sullo steroide anabolizzante sintetico Thg

Zurich, 29 October 2003 - The FIFA Sports Medical Committee has resolved not to re-examine urine samples for traces of the substance tetrahydrogestrinone (THG). At a meeting in Zurich chaired by FIFA Executive Committee member Dr Michel D’Hooghe (Belgium) on 28 October, the medical experts debated the matter in depth after a presentation by the head of the Swiss Doping Control Laboratory, Dr Martial Saugy. For legal reasons and in view of the fact that samples are destroyed after thirty days in accordance with the Doping Control Regulations, the Sports Medical Committee decided not to carry out retrospective tests.

During the four-hour meeting in FIFA headquarters, the committee noted the latest developments in the case of the English international player, Rio Ferdinand. The committee pointed out that the English association was dealing with the matter and that FIFA would await the results of the investigation and the decision passed by the relevant disciplinary bodies.

FIFA conducts doping tests at all of its competitions and random tests are also carried out all over the world. To this end, FIFA employs 140 doping control officers, all of whom are medical doctors trained precisely for this duty at special courses.

Furthermore, the committee resolved to set up a working party to determine criteria to assess overexertion and fatigue among footballers. FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter had previously announced the creation of such a group of experts at the Extraordinary FIFA Congress in Doha on 19 October. These specialists will be working closely with members of the Medical Assessment and Research Centre (F-MARC), who have been conducting research on injury and the prevention of injury among footballers for years.

In this connection, Professor Jiri Dvorak, Senior Medical Coordinator at FIFA, presented the results of a survey conducted at the Women’s World Cup in the USA. Fifty-five injuries had been recorded in 32 matches, averaging 1.8 per game, thus amounting to considerably fewer injuries than the average of 2.7 per match at the 2002 FIFA World Cup™.

There had been encouraging results with preliminary trials to determine the age of footballers using magnetic resonance (MRI). Doctors can use MRI images to see how far bone joints have knitted together and thus infer the person’s age. The committee recommended continuation of this research. The long-term aim is to prevent or punish circumvention of age restrictions in youth competitions.

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