Azerbaijan's National Anti-Doping Agency publishes annual report

The National Anti-Doping Agency of Azerbaijan (AMADA) has published its annual report.

In 2023, the agency's investigative department reviewed 54 cases, of which 16 were recognised as violations of anti-doping rules, 38 were errors in the submitted data, three of which did not provide location information, and 35 were missed tests, Azernews reports.

During the reporting period, 1,100 anti-doping tests were taken from athletes, and the national testing program will continue until the end of the year. The final number of tests will be announced on December 30.

The testing plan covers 26 sports types and 51 sub-sports. Testing was organised during 35 national competitions and 11 international tournaments. It is reported that 96.4 percent of the tests were taken in Baku, 1.6 percent in the regions, and 2 percent abroad. According to AMADA, 18 percent of the total number of athletes tested are minors, and 7 percent are athletes with disabilities.

In 2023, decisions were made to impose sanctions in connection with 7 anti-doping rule violations, including five related to the presence of prohibited substances, metabolites, or markers in the athlete's sample, an anti-doping rule violation involving the use or attempted use of a prohibited substance or prohibited method by the athlete, the athlete’s evasion or refusal to collect samples, failure to provide a sample, and the athlete’s concealment of location information. Violations were identified in sports such as triathlon, boxing, powerlifting, kickboxing, and judo.

During the year, 52 educational seminars, 17 webinars, six mass campaigns, and five events were held, which covered 3,000 people.

This year, AMADA has signed a mutual cooperation agreement with the national anti-doping organisations of Kenya, Japan, Bulgaria, the European Handball Federation, the International Shooting Sports Federation, and the World Military Sports Council.

During the year, AMADA employees took an active part in major anti-doping events organised by the World Anti-Doping Agency, the Council of Europe, UNESCO, the International Testing Agency, and other organisations.

The Azerbaijan National Anti-Doping Agency (AMADA) was established on December 23, 2016 as a national anti-doping organisation with the mission of fighting doping in sports.

The legal background covering the agency's mission is the Law "On the fight against the use of doping substances and methods in sport," signed and, respectively, implemented by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the last quarter of 2016.