MIES - As the evolution of new practices and technology continues to be rolled out via the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to prevent doping scandals in the world of sport, the FIBA Medical Commission is doing its part to lead the way in basketball, working hard to continually develop testing strategies which reinforces the ‘Clean Game’ message.

Dr Peter Harcourt, who heads up the FIBA Medical Commission, has given an intriguing and valuable insight into the work that has already been undertaken by basketball’s governing body and also some of the key challenges moving forward.

FIBA became actively engaged in the fight against doping in 1989, when it began performing doping controls at its events. In 2002, the ‘Clean Game’ campaign was launched to raise public awareness to the many dangers of doping.

"The clean game campaign is really well recognised around the globe, as is the significant contribution which FIBA has made towards this - we have definitely had strong communication, education and awareness in basketball,” said Dr Harcourt.

Since 1989, FIBA has continuously increased the frequency with which it performed doping controls at its own tournaments. In 2009, it also implemented an out-of-competition testing programme. Other measures are also being looked at in order to deal with the dangers and challenges the sport faces in the fight against doping.

"The big trends being talked about at the moment are the ‘Athlete Biological Passport’ (ABP) and blood-testing," Dr Harcourt pointed out.

The ABP is a testing model which consists of following a player over a period of time, during which blood samples are collected on a regular basis to record key blood parameters and detect unusual changes. Through this method blood doping, EPO use and other substance misuse in the sport of basketball can be detected.

"Blood testing is new to all sports and has been primarily focused around its usefulness in competition involving aerobic activity. While WADA has started talking about steroid-profiling in the athlete biological passport approach little is yet known exactly how this will be different from past profiling," Dr Harcourt explained.

"The entire anti-doping movement is evolving to better detect drug cheating."

One of the main challenges for FIBA’s Medical Commission is to determine how the introduction of the ABP can be implemented in the unique environment of basketball.

"The Medical Commission is currently discussing how we introduce these newer elements and of course basketball is absolutely committed to re-enforcing the message of a clean game," said Harcourt.

The challenge for the Medical Commission is to take the principles of these new areas and form a test plan specifically for basketball, which not only satisfies the requirements of WADA, but is also the most appropriate mix of tests for the sport.

"The big issue is how we deal with these in the context of a team sport like basketball, since we have to develop our own strategy," said Dr Harcourt.

"A good example is the athlete biological passport. There are different ways the athlete biological passport can be developed and this will vary from sport to sport depending on the physical demands.

"There is no doubt we understand the physiological demands of our sport best. If WADA says ‘You need to do the athlete biological passport’ our response is ‘Ok, but what does that look like for basketball because it’s not the same as for cycling, for instance’. We need dialogue and a relationship where we can all say ‘This is what it looks like’. Our relationship with WADA is cooperative and respectful in the sense that we listen to what they have to say and then interprete as to what works for the game of basketball."

"Physical demands on athletes are different for every sport. Ours has a unique mix as does every other sport. The Medical Commission have discussed what our test plan should look like based on what we know to be the game's physical demands."

"Blood profiling is particularly relevant for athletics and cycling, but only partially so for basketball."

"We are likely to be more concerned with the power elements of the game thereby focusing on testing for cheating designed to improve strength and power, such as human growth hormone testing and ABP steroid profiling, but not forgetting tests for cheating aimed at the aerobic component of performance."

Ensuring a clean game in team sports compared to individual pursuits does have one slight drawback. An international federation like FIBA has direct control of its competitions and a more indirect role beyond that, according to Dr Harcourt.

"Team sports function in discrete leagues for the bulk of the year and these leagues have their own drug testing. This is where team sports are different compared to individual sports who can obviously have a more direct approach," he explained.

"To be truly cutting edge and broadly comply with WADA's goals we have to set the example in FIBA competition, then communicate and support the various basketball leagues' anti-doping strategies around the world while also trickling FIBA's renewed strategy down to the National Federations and beyond to domestic competitions. Around the globe there is already a lot of drug testing. We have to ensure it is the right testing!"

Despite this, Dr Harcourt is adamant that basketball is in a good place when it comes to having a clean game, not only because of the work currently being undertaken but also because of the inherent structure of teams and the sport itself.

He said: "Doping is very different when it comes to team sports and particularly basketball. There are so many friends, colleagues and relationships in teams where individuals are used to working together to achieve a common outcome for the good of the group".

"In a team environment there is also a degree of inherent protection from cheating. It is hard to keep a secret in the closed environment of the locker room, intense training, playing and life on the road over many months. Also, the common team goals mean a player runs the risk of letting their team mates down if they get caught doing something stupid like using performance enhancing drugs."

FIBA