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Minister announces Anti-Doping Agency date

From UK Sport
Minister for Sport Gerry Sutcliffe confirmed today that plans for a new National Anti-Doping Organisation (NADO) have been finalised and the new body will open its doors by the end of the year. The new NADO, provisionally titled ‘UK Anti-Doping’, will take on existing testing and education responsibilities from UK Sport, whilst also being granted significant new powers to ensure Britain is best-placed to tackle doping in sport in the run-up to London 2012 and beyond.

Recommendations for the new NADO were first made by UK Sport’s Board in December 2007 in recognition of the need for centralised case management of doping cases and greater links with law enforcement agencies, functions that necessitated the need for separation from UK Sport.

Speaking at UK Sport’s National Anti-Doping Conference at Lord’s Cricket Ground, Gerry Sutcliffe said: “The global fight against doping in sport has shifted and the move to a new, stand-alone NADO reflects that change. The NADO will build on the excellent work of UK Sport which has established us as a world leader in the field.

“We have learnt from the likes of Operation Raw Deal, the BALCO case in the USA and Operation Puerto in Spain that to be truly effective we need the ability to target the manufacturers, traffickers and suppliers of prohibited substances. We have already started to build relations with law enforcement agencies through a Cross-Department Working Group, ensuring the new NADO will be equipped with the powers and intelligence to stop cheats before they reach the start line.”

Following the original announcement, UK Sport developed a detailed Business Plan outlining the operations of the new NADO, the budgets required to deliver existing and new functions, and the process for transition from UK Sport. It has worked closely with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to secure the funding required as, when fully operational, the new NADO will see £7.2 million invested in 2010/11 in anti-doping, a 60% increase on the current £4.5 million budget.

John Steele, Chief Executive of UK Sport, said: “The new NADO marks an exciting new chapter in anti-doping in the UK, and we are sending out a clear statement of intent ahead of 2012 that doping in this country will not be tolerated.

“A phenomenal amount of work has been done over the past year to get us to this point. Everyone is in agreement that this is the right thing to do and it was essential we took the time to ensure we do it properly. I am delighted that the funding for the new NADO has been confirmed and, in many ways, the real hard work starts now to get it operational by the end of the year.

“The priority is to make the transition to the new NADO as smooth as possible and we are committed to ensuring our current testing and education programmes will continue to be delivered to the usual high standards throughout this period. With the talented and dedicated team we have here I have no doubts this will be the case.”

For more information, contact:

Russell Langley, UK Sport – 07880 740772

Lee Taylor, UK Sport – 07824 343507

Jose Riera, DCMS – 020 7211 6971 / 07825 057405

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