The scale of the compliance problem that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) faces was recently highlighted by the exposure of state-sponsored doping in Russia and the series of doping scandals within athletics. This study aims to analyse the problems of achieving compliance with the World Anti-Doping Code. Specifically, the study explores the techniques for, and problems of, achieving compliance in three similar international agreements: the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the UN Convention Against Transnational Organised Crime. The Conventions were analysed to identify the range of strategies used to achieve (or at least enhance) the level of compliance with the international conventions, to evaluate their effectiveness as a way of generating ideas for improving compliance with the WADA Code and to assess the comparative success of the WADA. To evaluate compliance, three inter-related bodies of theory were used: regime theory, implementation theory and Mitchell and Chayes (1995) compliance system. Qualitative document analysis was used to analyse documents published by relevant organisations. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with senior staff members responsible for monitoring compliance at the international and UK domestic level. The results identified a range of strategies used to achieve compliance, including a global annual index of compliance, independent monitoring institutions, whistleblowing and domestic lobbying. It is concluded that the identified strategies have had modest and variable success in improving compliance, yet have the potential to address the problems of achieving compliance with the WADA Code.

As humanity is increasingly confronted by shared, complex, multi-faceted problems, experts with particular knowledge and expertise are called upon to develop solutions which can be implemented internationally. Such a role requires that experts work alongside professionals from a variety of different fields as well as creating the necessary knowledge and skills to solve the problems at hand. This thesis presents the outcomes of grounded research into the dynamics of expert work based on a case study of the scientific directors of accredited sports anti-doping laboratories. The study addressed questions about how both the directors and their stakeholders viewed the work of these scientific experts. It also investigated how these experts maintained their expertise in the rapidly changing context of doping in sport. The research design integrated the methods of case study, grounded theory and developmental work research. Qualitative data was elicited using a combination of standard qualitative research methods such as semi structured interviews, surveys and participant observation, and an adaptation of the activity theory based developmental work research methods. The results of data analysis were interpreted using the theoretical frameworks of Activity Theory, Communities of Practice and the complexity based Cynefin model of organic sensemaking. The subsequent development of a grounded theoretically informed model pointed to the existence of multiple objects for expert work and the critical role of a trusted, private, shared space for the development of individual and collective identities, the expansion and application of validated knowledge within the field and the establishment of a shared and informed base from which experts can engage with other professional groups working in the field. The model identified relationships between the volume of routine processes within a workplace and both the extent of knowledge-generating research work and the development of an awareness by experts of the benefits of greater participation with other stakeholders in the broader problem context. This international study also provided insights into the complex, evolving and emergent nature of multi-stakeholder activity and identified avenues for further research into the optimum dynamics of inter-agency working in both local and global contexts.

Doctor of Philiosophy (PhD) / Since 1998 anti-doping policy has undergone massive change. The level of world-wide cooperation involved in establishing an international anti-doping system is unprecedented in the history of the regulation of performance enhancing substances in sport. Such cooperation and the unipartite nature of public doping discourse give the impression that anti-doping policy is clear, unproblematic and universally acceptable. However, scratching the harmonious surface of modern anti-doping approaches reveals fundamental problems and inconsistencies, the two most basic of which go to the very core of the policy. Basic issues — what constitutes doping and the reasons why we prohibit it — are still unsettled, lack clarity and give rise to many significant operational issues. For instance, the definition of ‘doping’ in doping discourse is quite different from the definition in the World Anti-Doping Code: what is thought of as ‘doping’ is very different from what is punished as ‘doping.’ Moreover, the commonly suggested anti-doping rationales do not adequately explain the present prohibition on the use of performance enhancing substances in sport. In light of this uncertainty, two questions arise: why is there so much confusion and why do we prohibit doping in sport? Desmond Manderson, in his study of the origins of illicit drug laws, has wrestled with a similar question; his conclusions are that drugs have been prohibited more for what they symbolise than their pharmacological properties. This thesis argues that, in a similar way to illicit drug policy, the symbolism of performance enhancing substances in sport has played a major role in the development of anti-doping policy. To demonstrate the influence of such symbolism, three significant time periods in anti-doping history are considered in the thesis: the 1920s, the 1960s and the 1970s. The most formative aspect of symbolism in the 1920s, when anti-doping rules were first passed, was the association between doping and illicit drug taking. The stigma attached to stereotypical images of illicit drug-users contributed to ‘doping’ being viewed as contrary to the amateur ethos and the adoption of a regulatory system modelled on illicit drug policy approaches. In the 1960s, when anti-doping policy began in earnest, illicit drug symbolism was also extremely influential. Concerns regarding drug addiction in sport fuelled fears about the health of the athlete which were prominent in doping discourse at this time. Combined with a strong belief in the power of drugs in general, illicit drug symbolism led to the expansion of the illicit drug model of regulation to include illicit drug style testing. Doping changed in the 1970s with the emergence of training drugs such as anabolic steroids. Steroids became strongly associated with ‘communist’ athletes and were viewed as extremely powerful transforming drugs. A kind of steroid hysteria was thereby created in doping discourse. Simultaneously, the continuing influence of illicit drug symbolism meant that the previously adopted illicit drug model was also applied to steroids. The conclusion of the thesis is that anti-doping policy is not fundamentally a rational system: instead it has been driven much more by emotional factors such as public opinion than rational argument. Such a basis is bound to create confusion and explains many of the problems of current anti-doping policy. The way in which symbolism has led to the regulatory decisions in anti-doping history is summarised as constituting the ‘reactive regulation model’ in the concluding section of the thesis. This pattern of regulation has produced a number of important operational difficulties in current anti-doping law, the prime example being the ‘fallacy’ of in-competition drug testing to deal with the issue of training drugs such as steroids. Finally, it is argued that in light of the reactive nature of anti-doping policy, it is unlikely that recent challenges, such as gene doping and the use of non-analytical evidence, will be treated any differently to past challenges. Anti-doping policy has always been largely driven by reactions to symbolism; there is no reason to suspect this type of approach will change.

Doctor of Philiosophy (PhD) / Since 1998 anti-doping policy has undergone massive change. The level of world-wide cooperation involved in establishing an international anti-doping system is unprecedented in the history of the regulation of performance enhancing substances in sport. Such cooperation and the unipartite nature of public doping discourse give the impression that anti-doping policy is clear, unproblematic and universally acceptable. However, scratching the harmonious surface of modern anti-doping approaches reveals fundamental problems and inconsistencies, the two most basic of which go to the very core of the policy. Basic issues — what constitutes doping and the reasons why we prohibit it — are still unsettled, lack clarity and give rise to many significant operational issues. For instance, the definition of ‘doping’ in doping discourse is quite different from the definition in the World Anti-Doping Code: what is thought of as ‘doping’ is very different from what is punished as ‘doping.’ Moreover, the commonly suggested anti-doping rationales do not adequately explain the present prohibition on the use of performance enhancing substances in sport. In light of this uncertainty, two questions arise: why is there so much confusion and why do we prohibit doping in sport? Desmond Manderson, in his study of the origins of illicit drug laws, has wrestled with a similar question; his conclusions are that drugs have been prohibited more for what they symbolise than their pharmacological properties. This thesis argues that, in a similar way to illicit drug policy, the symbolism of performance enhancing substances in sport has played a major role in the development of anti-doping policy. To demonstrate the influence of such symbolism, three significant time periods in anti-doping history are considered in the thesis: the 1920s, the 1960s and the 1970s. The most formative aspect of symbolism in the 1920s, when anti-doping rules were first passed, was the association between doping and illicit drug taking. The stigma attached to stereotypical images of illicit drug-users contributed to ‘doping’ being viewed as contrary to the amateur ethos and the adoption of a regulatory system modelled on illicit drug policy approaches. In the 1960s, when anti-doping policy began in earnest, illicit drug symbolism was also extremely influential. Concerns regarding drug addiction in sport fuelled fears about the health of the athlete which were prominent in doping discourse at this time. Combined with a strong belief in the power of drugs in general, illicit drug symbolism led to the expansion of the illicit drug model of regulation to include illicit drug style testing. Doping changed in the 1970s with the emergence of training drugs such as anabolic steroids. Steroids became strongly associated with ‘communist’ athletes and were viewed as extremely powerful transforming drugs. A kind of steroid hysteria was thereby created in doping discourse. Simultaneously, the continuing influence of illicit drug symbolism meant that the previously adopted illicit drug model was also applied to steroids. The conclusion of the thesis is that anti-doping policy is not fundamentally a rational system: instead it has been driven much more by emotional factors such as public opinion than rational argument. Such a basis is bound to create confusion and explains many of the problems of current anti-doping policy. The way in which symbolism has led to the regulatory decisions in anti-doping history is summarised as constituting the ‘reactive regulation model’ in the concluding section of the thesis. This pattern of regulation has produced a number of important operational difficulties in current anti-doping law, the prime example being the ‘fallacy’ of in-competition drug testing to deal with the issue of training drugs such as steroids. Finally, it is argued that in light of the reactive nature of anti-doping policy, it is unlikely that recent challenges, such as gene doping and the use of non-analytical evidence, will be treated any differently to past challenges. Anti-doping policy has always been largely driven by reactions to symbolism; there is no reason to suspect this type of approach will change.

Universiẗat, Diss., 2006--Mainz.

Zugl.: Mainz, Univ., Diss., 2006

Title: ​Proportionality of a four-year ineligibility for the first intentional anti-doping rule violations and its impact on professional athletes' careers Objectives: ​The aim of this thesis is to ascertain whether the four-year ineligibility for the first intentional anti-doping rule violations has liquidation impact on professional athletes' careers. Methods: ​For quantitative research, I have used the electronic interrogation method and for qualitative research the in-depth semi-structured interview. Results: ​I have found that most athletes really do perceive a four-year ineligibility for the first intentional anti-doping rule violations as disproportionate. Only 24 % of surveyed athletes said that a four-year ineligibility is an appropriate punishment. 82 % of surveyed athletes would end their careers after receiving a four-year ineligibility, and just 30 % of them think that It's realistic to go back to an active career after a four-year break. Moreover, athletes have consistently said that the most crucial obstacles to their return are financial distress, loss of motivation and lack of racing mode. On the basis of these results, I have also developed my own solution to ineligibility for the first intentional anti-doping rule violations. Keywords: ​proportionality, sanction, ineligibility,...

This study investigates the differences and similarities in implementation of anti-doping policy in Denmark and Iceland. Various anti-doping themes has been chosen to dig deeper into the implementation on policies between the two countries which are related to: Economy, Education, Testing and Investigation, International Cooperation, Fitness and Public Health and Research and Development.  A comparison of the implementation is done where governance and power within anti-doping is analyzed in the countries. The aim is to outline the ways the two countries implement anti-doping policy, analyze how their NADOs are governed as well as how power and interconnections are divided between the stakeholders of anti-doping. Document analysis and a semi structured interview was conducted in order to collect the data needed for the investigation and analysis process. A thematic analysis was developed to be able to gather the most vital and reliable data on the selected anti-doping themes. Additionally, theory on power, interconnections and good governance was implemented to reach towards the purpose of this study. The analysis showed different outcomes in the two countries. Denmark implements the international anti-doping policy to a high degree where they adapt to it in relation to national strategies in sport. Iceland has difficulties in adapting to every anti-doping standard of the international policy and focuses on the ones of most importance to Icelandic sport and society.  The study concluded that both countries implement and comply to the international anti-doping policy by law and have independent NADOs that are responsible for anti-doping nationally. Despite complying to the international law, the implementation differs in the countries which is affected by national prioritization and resources. The main focus of Iceland is education and testing where Denmark is more developed within their NADO and prioritizes every standard to a certain degree. The NADOs are steered by the policies set by WADA and their governments who are running political and corporate governance. Furthermore, the study concluded that the interconnected relationship between the stakeholders of anti-doping is complex and there are often difficulties between the NADOs, the ministries and/or WADA which also involves the power relationship between the stakeholders.

Title: Anti - doping policy and its global development Thesis objective: The main objective of this work is to develop a comprehensive set of anti-doping policy, putting the key milestones in the development and evaluation of importance for the whole process to the anti-doping policy. Methods: The thesis is based on descriptive analysis and document examination. Outcomes: This thesis is intended to provide an overall summary of the global anti-doping policy. Key words: Anti - doping policy - doping - doping control - doping conference

Title Positive findings in doping of athletes in the Czech Republic Objectives The aim of this thesis, based on the doping control protocols from 1993 - 2011 provided by the Czech Anti-Doping Committee, is to assess the most commonly abused doping substances and evaluate sports in which doping is most frequently abused, and attitudes of athletes who have violated doping regulations. Methods The main method used in this thesis was an analysis of documents, especially doping protocols, which led to gathering important data and compile final tables, which were subsequently processed and evaluated. Finally, aninterview with two bodybuilders who have received completely different penalties for the same offense. Results This thesis comes to the conclusion that the most commonly used substances are, in order: testosterone, nandrolone, marijuana, ephedrine and then metandienon. The most common individual sports, where the use of doping substances is most commonly encoutered include bodybuilding and powerlifting. In team sports, it is hockey, rugby, water polo and handball. Use is most prevalent in men, and less common in women. Keywords Anti-doping policy, doping, doping control, doping substance, sport.