BILBAO/GRAN CANARIA/GRANADA/SEVILLA/BARCELONA/MADRID (FIBA Basketball World Cup) - FIBA is leaving no stone unturned in its effort to deliver a dope-free edition of its flagship event, with various measures that began as early as last January.

FIBA's anti-doping programme for the Spain 2014 Basketball World Cup began in January 2014 by including players who were expected to participate at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in the International Basketball Federation's Registered Testing Pool (RTP) for the out-of-competition testing programme.

With the cooperation of multiple National Anti-Doping Agencies, FIBA established "Athlete biological passports" for some of their top level players by collecting blood and urine samples.

Once the teams arrived in Spain, FIBA conducted a "pre-competition testing programme". Samples were collected at the team hotels for the tests to be conducted with the assistance of the Spanish NADO Agencia Espanola de Proteccion de la Salud en el Deporte (AEPSAD).

A total of 117 samples were collected, including urine samples, blood samples for Athlete Biological Passport purposes and samples aiming to detect the use of human Growth Hormone (hGH).

Additional unannounced testing will be performed during the event.

FIBA's anti-doping efforts at the FIBA Basketball World Cup also mark the first time that tests are conducted for hGH in a FIBA event.

FIBA