You are viewing the ninth Annual Report from the Anti-Doping Authority of the Netherlands. This is the fourth Annual Report to be published exclusively in digital form.
In 2014, the Doping Authority celebrated the establishment of the world's first anti-doping organisation (the Netherlands Centre for Doping Affairs) in 1989 after the adoption of the Anti-Doping Convention of the Council of Europe. The celebrations included an international conference, a jubilee meeting, and the publication of a jubilee book.
2014 was the year in which, after the investigations in 2013 by the Anti-Doping Approach Commission - better known as the Sorgdrager Commission - and the Doping Authority, the focus in cycling moved from the past to the future. Thanks to a substantial financial contribution from the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, it was possible to design and implement the 'Racing for a clean sport' project in close collaboration with the KNWU and the NOC*NSF. This major project brought together a range of activities (including prevention and control) targeting a range of people involved with cycling (not just cyclists, but also support staff). The project was also intended as a pioneering project that other sports associations could draw on to make improvements in their anti-doping policies.
All this did not mean the end of investigations of possible doping infringements in cycling. On the contrary: the major investigation initiated in 2013 continued in close collaboration with the WADA, our colleagues from foreign NADOs and the independent investigation committee, the CIRC, established by the UCI. In collaboration with USADA and Anti-Doping Danmark, the investigation of medical supervision in the former Rabobank cycling teams was continued and completed. Shortly after the end of the year under review, we were able to announce that the head of the Medical Team had been given a lifetime ban by the American Association for Arbitration.
The year under review was also the year in which the implementation of the revision of the World Anti-Doping Code played a major role. All regulations based on the Code (and in particular the Dutch National Doping Regulations and the associated annexes) had to be amended in close and ongoing consultation with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). In addition, we had to monitor the sports associations to ensure that the revised regulations were adopted in good time and correctly so that the new Code-compliant regulations and procedures went into effect throughout Dutch sport on 1 January 2015.
The ongoing large number of contacts with the press throughout 2014 would seem to justify the conclusion that all these developments will continue to affect the position and 'profile' of the Doping Authority. It is no longer possible to respond to all requests for information and comment and so a selection has to be made. Nevertheless, the numerous contacts with the media resulted in an extremely large number of publications and broadcasts that included the Doping Authority's views and the information we provided.
As a result of all these developments, more and more questions were asked about the limited resources and powers available to the Doping Authority for the fulfilment of its duties. The one-off additional project subsidy of € 200,000 that we received for 2013 was transformed with effect from 2014 into a structural component of our institutional subsidy. In part as a result of this additional financing, we are in a better position to successfully conduct more cases (including complex ones).
On the basis of agreements made in the distant past, the urine controls conducted by the Doping Authority are not financed using subsidies from the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport but from lottery funding. In 2013, a new four-year lottery spending plan came into effect that included an increase in the contribution for the Doping Authority. However, that contribution was cut again by 5% in 2014. On the basis of the available financial resources, the target for 2014 was reduced to 1,710 doping controls. Ultimately, 1,764 doping controls took place under the auspices of the Dutch National Programme, including 57 blood controls financed with funding from the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports.
Thanks to multi-year project subsidies granted by the same ministry, the Doping Authority was able to complete a doctorate study in 2014 of the effectiveness of the global anti-doping policy. Furthermore, with a second multi-year project subsidy from the ministry, major progress was made with the ongoing extension of the knowledge management project in which ever larger amounts of doping-related information have been opened up to the public through www.doping.nl.
Despite the ongoing struggle to balance the responsibilities of the organisation and the available resources, we believe that, once again in 2014, we made an important contribution to the fight against doping in sport. We hope you will agree with us after reading this Annual Report.