What a NADO is and how it works
When an athlete hears about doping control, most often it is not WADA directly that is involved but the national anti-doping organisation of their country — the NADO. It is the one that takes samples, maintains testing pools, issues therapeutic use exemptions and initiates cases. The editorial team explains how this link is arranged and why trust in a country's entire sporting system depends on it.
The place of the NADO in the global anti-doping system
The modern anti-doping system is built around the World Anti-Doping Code, which is developed and updated by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). WADA itself, founded in 1999, mostly does not take samples from athletes on a daily basis. It sets the rules, accredits laboratories, monitors compliance with the Code and publishes the annual Prohibited List.
The practical work is carried out by anti-doping organisations — signatories to the Code. There are two main groups of them: international sports federations, responsible for international-level athletes, and national anti-doping organisations, which look after sport in their own country. The Code defines a NADO as an organisation to which a state has granted primary authority to adopt and implement anti-doping rules at national level.
States take on their obligations through the 2005 UNESCO International Convention against Doping in Sport. The Code is a document of sports organisations, and governments cannot sign it directly, so the Convention became the legal «bridge». Ukraine is a party to the Convention.
The national anti-doping organisation thus stands at the intersection of two worlds: state law and sporting rules. It must act in accordance with national legislation but at the same time comply with WADA's international standards, otherwise the country risks sanctions.
In some states the functions of the NADO are performed by the National Olympic Committee, but WADA increasingly insists that this be a separate, operationally independent structure. The reason is simple: an organisation responsible for medals should not simultaneously decide whether to bring a case against its own leaders.
Key functions of the national agency
The NADO's functions are defined by the Code and international standards. Among them are «hard» tasks — testing, results management — and «soft» ones, in particular education and prevention, which since 2021 have had their own International Standard for Education.
| Area | What the NADO actually does | Relevant international standard |
|---|---|---|
| Testing | Planning, collection of urine and blood samples, maintaining testing pools | International Standard for Testing and Investigations (ISTI) |
| Results management | Notifying the athlete, provisional suspension, referring the case to a hearing | International Standard for Results Management (ISRM) |
| Therapeutic use | Reviewing TUE applications for national-level athletes | International Standard for TUEs (ISTUE) |
| Education | Training programmes, education pool, training for coaches and doctors | International Standard for Education (ISE) |
| Data protection | Processing of athletes' medical and personal data | International Standard for the Protection of Privacy and Personal Information (ISPPPI) |
| Investigations | Gathering intelligence, cooperation with law enforcement | ISTI |
Testing is the most visible part of the work, but not the only one. Results management requires legal expertise: every case must go through a procedure capable of withstanding a possible appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Intelligence activity became especially important after the major doping scandals of the 2010s. Practice showed that some violations cannot be detected by analysis — only through testimony, documents or cooperation with police and customs.
Education is regarded as the first line of defence. An athlete who understands the principle of strict liability, the risks of dietary supplements and the TUE procedure is far less likely to end up in a situation of unintentional violation.
How the NADO plans and conducts testing
Testing should not be random in the everyday sense. The ISTI requires every organisation to have a test distribution plan based on a risk assessment: which sports and disciplines are most vulnerable, which substances are most advantageous in them, at which stage of the season the likelihood of abuse is highest.
WADA supplements this with the Technical Document for Sport Specific Analysis (TDSSA), which sets minimum proportions of samples that must be analysed for particular groups of substances — erythropoiesis-stimulating agents, growth hormone and its releasing factors. For example, in endurance sports the share of analyses for EPO-like agents is much higher than in shooting.
For top-level athletes the NADO forms a registered testing pool. Its members are obliged to submit whereabouts information so that they can be tested without notice out of competition. Lower levels — the testing pool and the general pool — have lesser requirements.
Sample collection is carried out by doping control officers and chaperones, who are trained and accredited by the NADO. Samples are transported only to WADA-accredited laboratories, observing the chain of custody. Results are entered into ADAMS — a centralised database accessible to the relevant organisations.
Some samples are stored for a long time. The Code allows re-analysis within ten years, and it was in exactly this way that, in the past decade, many violations were detected at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games, when new methods made it possible to find long-lived steroid metabolites.
The NADO also maintains the athlete biological passport — long-term monitoring of haematological and steroid markers. The passport makes it possible to detect manipulation even when the substance itself is not found in the sample.
Independence, Code compliance and trust
WADA regularly checks whether signatories comply with the Code. The procedure is defined by the International Standard for Code Compliance by Signatories (ISCCS). Following an audit, organisations may receive corrective actions, and in case of non-fulfilment — a status of «non-compliance».
The consequences of non-compliance can be tangible: restrictions on holding international competitions in the country, a ban on using the national flag at major tournaments, loss of the right for officials to hold positions in international sports organisations. The best-known example is the sanctions against Russia, finally determined by the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in December 2020.
A key requirement for a NADO is operational independence. The Code prohibits decisions on testing and results management from being taken by persons who simultaneously hold positions in sports federations, the NOC or ministries of sport. This protects the system from conflicts of interest.
Independence also has a financial dimension. An agency whose budget depends every year on ministry decisions is objectively vulnerable. That is why WADA experts stress stable and transparent funding.
For Ukraine the topic of the anti-doping organisation's independence has been discussed actively in recent years, and the structure of the responsible body has changed. The editorial team advises athletes always to check the official website of the national anti-doping organisation and WADA's website for current contacts and procedures.
What the NADO means for an athlete
For an athlete, the national agency is above all practical procedures. It is to the NADO that national-level athletes apply for a therapeutic use exemption, it is the one that notifies them of inclusion in a testing pool, and it is its officers who knock on the door at six in the morning.
- Information:the NADO's website should have the current Prohibited List, TUE application forms and contacts.
- Education:courses, webinars, WADA's ADEL online platform, consultations on supplements and medicines.
- Procedural guarantees:notification of a violation, the right to a hearing, access to case documents.
- Feedback:channels for reporting suspicious activity, including anonymous ones.
It is important to understand the limits of competence. An international-level athlete is usually tested by their international federation as well, and at the Olympic Games — by the International Testing Agency (ITA). So situations are possible where a TUE must be obtained not from the NADO but from the federation.
It is a mistake to perceive the NADO merely as a «punitive» body. A well-functioning agency protects honest athletes: every case uncovered means that someone else will receive a deserved place, scholarship or contract.
Finally, coaches and doctors should know that the Code also applies to support personnel. Participation in administering prohibited substances, their distribution or complicity are separate violations, for which lengthy disqualifications are provided.
Editorial conclusions
The NADO is the national «operational» link of the global anti-doping system. It turns the provisions of the Code and international standards into real tests, cases and educational programmes.
The agency's effectiveness depends on independence, funding and the professionalism of its staff. Countries that neglect these requirements risk a status of non-compliance and sanctions, from which honest athletes suffer first of all.
It is useful for an athlete to know their NADO «by sight»: where to find the forms, where to turn regarding a TUE, which educational resources are available.
Our articles on the Whereabouts location system, on the rights of an athlete during doping control and on appeals in doping cases will help continue the topic.
References
- World Anti-Doping Agency. World Anti-Doping Code 2021. Montreal: WADA; 2021.
- World Anti-Doping Agency. International Standard for Testing and Investigations (ISTI). Montreal: WADA; 2021.
- World Anti-Doping Agency. International Standard for Results Management (ISRM). Montreal: WADA; 2021.
- World Anti-Doping Agency. International Standard for Code Compliance by Signatories (ISCCS). Montreal: WADA; 2021.
- World Anti-Doping Agency. International Standard for Education (ISE). Montreal: WADA; 2021.
- UNESCO. International Convention against Doping in Sport. Paris: UNESCO; 2005.
Andriy Melnyk
A strength-sports coach and author of programs for beginner and intermediate levels. Writes about training planning.
