WADA issues dope testing guidelines amid coronavirus pandemic

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) issued new guidelines to facilitate continued testing amid the constraints of the coronavirus pandemic.

Noting that the spread of COVID-19 had evolved into "an even greater health and societal emergency" since its March 6 communique, WADA urged Anti-Doping Organizations (ADOs) to act in accordance with restrictions placed by local health authorities "to ensure proper protection of athletes and doping control personnel, while protecting the integrity of doping control programs, particularly in the lead-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games."
In locations where testing programs can't continue, WADA said, it and other anti-doping organizations and sports federations will work together "once the situation begins to return to normal" to identify gaps in testing "particularly as it relates to the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games."