Turkish Anti-Doping Directive
Every athlete at any level who takes part in a sports competition or match in Türkiye, referred to as a competitor, is subject to the "Turkish Anti-Doping Directive" prepared by the Turkish Anti-Doping Commission in line with the World Anti-Doping Code. Athletes are also obliged to follow the "Prohibited List", which is renewed every year, and to be informed about the rules they must comply with.
Likewise, an athlete who, because of their health condition, has to use a medication on the Prohibited List "because no other solution can be found" must apply for approval for a "Therapeutic Use Exemption", known as a "TUE".
Despite these basic anti-doping rules, we regret to see, in the process of evaluating the results of our ongoing anti-doping work, that athletes do not have sufficient knowledge of their obligations. Based on the rule of "Strict Liability", under which athletes alone are responsible for every substance that enters their bodies, this situation leads to athletes failing to protect themselves properly from prohibited substances and becoming victims. In such cases, because of the increased sanctions under the World Anti-Doping Code that came into force at the beginning of 2015, athletes now stay away from sport for longer periods.
As the Turkish Anti-Doping Commission, in addition to the educational activities we have long carried out at national team camps and coach education seminars, we have developed an electronic education programme called the "Online Anti-Doping Education Course" to address the lack of knowledge among athlete support personnel, such as athletes and coaches, team doctors, parents, club officials and federation members, with whom athletes work or from whom they receive support.
The "Online Anti-Doping Education Course" is an internet-based education module created to provide athletes and athlete support personnel with basic training in anti-doping. The module can be accessed with a username and password issued by the Turkish Anti-Doping Commission. Its content covers topics such as the definition of doping, anti-doping rule violations, athletes' rights and responsibilities in anti-doping, dietary supplements, prohibited substances and methods, doping controls, and the evaluation of results. Once all the topics have been completed, participants will take a 10-question test via the "Online Self-Assessment" link. Participants who answer 80% of the questions correctly will be considered successful and will be entitled to receive an "Online Anti-Doping Education Course Certificate" via the internet.
In light of all these explanations, starting with national team athletes who will take part in international competitions in the near future, and then other national team athletes as well as any athletes and athlete support personnel your Federation considers would benefit from this training, we believe it is essential, and should be made compulsory, that they take part in the "Online Anti-Doping Education Course", which summarises up-to-date information on anti-doping, and obtain the certificate.
We thank you in advance for your participation and cooperation.
Kind regards,
Prof. Dr. Rüştü GÜNER
General Coordinator of the Turkish Anti-Doping Commission
