Artem Zhukov. Photo © Vasily PROFIR
The National Anti-Doping Agency was established by the decision of the Government of the Republic of Moldova on November 17, 2014. ANAD’s priorities are to promote and implement policies in the field of preventing and combating doping at the national level, to promote clean sport practices to protect the health of athletes, to promote and support research on the phenomenon of doping in sport, as well as to develop special regulations in its fields of activity, including their harmonization with international standards and norms.
Logos Press, in a conversation with the head of ANAD, has lifted the veil of activity of the structure, which is part of the government. Artyom Jucov has been heading the Agency since September 2019. He is a doctor of medical sciences, associate professor and member of the Academy of Sciences. He has been working in the ANAD structure since 2015.
“WE ARE READY TO COPE WITH THE CHALLENGES OF THE TIME”
LP: – How many employees does the Agency have and what is its structure?
– The Agency has 16 people who we call “anti-doping ambassadors”. We also have commissions that help us in our work: sports, ethics, research and development, therapeutic drugs approved for use by athletes, and a hearing commission. This is a whole anti-doping movement working in this direction. All commissions represent the interests of different categories of people: for example, the Sports Commission advocates for the interests of athletes in the ANAD policy so that we respect all the rules and the rights of athletes, not to be too strict or, on the contrary, soft.
We receive information from primary sources, as ANAD regional members are members of specialized federations, actively participate in current activities and promptly report on the situation in a particular sport. They can make recommendations on anti-doping and the federations listen to them.
LP: – How does ANAD interact with the World Anti-DopingAgency(WADA)?
– All over the world, April 11 is celebrated as Clean Sport Day (on the initiative of WADA it is celebrated since 2014 on the second Friday of April – author’s note). And this year for the first time we will hold a joint meeting with the Ministry of Education and Research to discuss issues related to the fight against doping and promotion of clean sport. Representatives of federations and the National Olympic and Sports Committee (NOSC) will also participate in the meeting. We see ourselves as part of the global anti-doping movement and it is important for us to monitor the situation to ensure that our country does not face doping scandals.
We are working to ensure that the Agency has a name and a good reputation. The name must have several solid pillars: integrity, innovation and cooperation. We have an obligation to inform the public about doping cases that have been identified. We report all sanctions imposed on athletes on our official website www.anad.gov.md. Yes, we have a higher detection rate of positive doping samples than our neighbors. While the optimal WADA indicator is 1.1-1.5%, in our country it reaches 4.5% of positive doping samples. Conducting a doping test is an expensive procedure. One test costs €425 and is paid from the budget.
LP: – How does the Agency manage to monitor athletes in the national team for possible doping?
– There are about 4 thousand athletes in the lists of the national team. The difficulty arises in the fact that they need to be regularly monitored at a high international level of testing. The standards are regularly improved and we need to follow them. The large number of tests carried out can have both positive and negative sides. In the fight against doping, we are prepared to meet the challenges of the times.
The Agency is a friend of athletes. We have no good or bad athletes. First of all, it is our athletes who represent the country in international competitions. We realize that the country’s reputation suffers from doping scandals, and we direct our efforts to protect the values of clean sport in Moldova.
“THE GOVERNMENT SUPPORTS US”
LP: – Is the financial support from the government sufficient? What amounts are needed to invest in the development of ANAD?
– Our annual budget is 5 million lei. In our opinion, the Agency’s budget should increase every year, as the number of sports fans grows every year. The requirements set by WADA, UNESCO and the Council of Europe are getting stricter and we have to follow them. The possibilities of the budget are not unlimited, but the growth of our budget is conditioned by the task to be worthy members of the international anti-doping movement.
In January this year, the Government decided that we could provide paid services. Obviously, both the NOSC and the Federations must have sufficient resources to pay for our services. What is important to us at this stage is that the government has given us the opportunity to generate additional revenue. A start has been made and we are working on it. Global challenges are always solved together!
LP: – What is your level of collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Research? Do you join the educational initiatives of the ministry?
– All initiatives implemented by the Ministry of Education and Research in the field of anti-doping are coordinated with our Agency. In turn, we coordinate all physical education initiatives with the Ministry. It is much better to be able to get a clear view from the outside, so the picture is more complete.
We exchange experience and information with the NOSC, which represents civil society. Thanks to our interaction with them, we get a multidimensional understanding of the situation. This is important for the creation of working rules and laws to ensure that athletes are given every opportunity for their professional development and the development of sport in general.
LP: – The office of your Agency has undergone a pleasant change – it has been thoroughly renovated. Did thegovernment also support you in this?
– When colleagues from the regions and abroad come to us and see that their conditions are better than ours, it does not speak in our favor. What we do is for the benefit of athletes, not us. Our doping control stations should meet the standards that our foreign colleagues have. In cooperation with foreign partners we defend the interests of our athletes, and the office is the “face” of our structure and the national anti-doping movement as a whole. We are proud to invite everyone to join us.
The government has supported us in this and, despite some bureaucratic moments, has given us as much support as possible. We are very grateful to the Cabinet of Ministers for this support.
“WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO VETO THE TRANSITION OF ATHLETES”
LP: – In our sport it is not uncommon for foreign athletes to join the national team. In your opinion, is it enough for them to change their sports citizenship, or are they obliged to become full-fledged citizens of our country?
– Our position on the sportsmen who intend to join the national team is unambiguous: they are obliged to have the citizenship of the Republic of Moldova. It is unseemly when the national flag is raised and the anthem is played at international competitions for a sportsman who is not a citizen of Moldova. Colleagues from other institutions support this point of view, because the naturalization of athletes demotivates our young people to take up professional sports. We will not allow athletes with an unclean anti-doping history to dishonor our country!
LP: – What is the procedure for their inclusion in the national team in terms of anti-doping? Does ANAD have the resources to block the transition of “problem“ athletes?
– I do not have all the nuances of the procedure of their inclusion in the national team – this issue is in the competence of the Ministry of Education and Research. As for the anti-doping component, ANAD has the right to veto the admission to the national team of athletes sanctioned for doping in their country. Until the sanctions are lifted from the athlete, our Agency will not approve the athlete’s transition.
“THE PROTECTION OF ANTI-DOPING INFORMATION IS IMPORTANT.
LP: – Information on the subject of anti-doping is confidential. What efforts does the Agency make in protecting the information?
– The National Agency is the “face of the country”. Any person who comes to us, we receive with dignity. We are ISO 9001:2015, ISO 37001:2016 (“Commitment of the organization to fight bribery and corruption” – editor’s note) and we are currently moving towards certification to ISO/IEC 27001 international standard on information security. There are different degrees of access to information – “green”, “yellow” and “red”. The latter includes athlete confidential data, which the competent authorities have decided that we must protect securely.
ANAD is a member of the National Platform for Sports Integrity, which also includes the Ministry of Interior, the National Inspectorate of Investigation and other security agencies, which have some specific requirements for information sharing. We have to ensure that information is stored securely and cannot be taken outside our institution. Despite some inconveniences caused by the close attention to us from these structures, we take the confidentiality of information very seriously and we are well aware that the work in this matter must be done correctly, within the law and with all the necessary resources.
