Spain Passes Decree to Prevent Night-Time Doping Controls

The Spanish government has approved a royal decree allowing the nation's athletes to refuse anti-doping controls in the country between 11 p.m. and 8 a.m. The decree also applies to foreign athletes training in Spain or resident in the country.

The ruling is in dispute with a new World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code which stipulates that athletes must in principle be available for doping controls 24 hours a day.

The Spanish decree is expected to come into effect in a few weeks.  It  will apply to all controls, whether ordered by a national sports federation or an international body.  

When this decree is put into practice, any sportsman or sportswoman would be entitled to refuse to be tested during the night hours without fear of being subject to possible sanctions.

The ruling has followed complaints by several leading athletes that the new WADA code is too restrictive.

The world's top-ranked men's tennis player and Spanish national hero, said earlier this year the rule forcing sportsmen and women to say where they are going to be for an hour each day, 365 days a year was a lack of respect for privacy.  

Other players, such as Roger Federer, approved the new legislation as it would be the only way to catch drug abusers.  

The WADA code says athletes identified by their international federations should inform the organization of their daily whereabouts every three months.

If a sportsperson cannot be found where they said they would be three times in an 18-month period, he or she is considered to have violated anti-doping regulations and is liable for sanctions.

In other sports, WADA and football's world governing body FIFA earlier this month reached agreement in a dispute over drug testing rules for top footballers.

The agreement will limit the number of players in football and other team sports who will be required to detail their whereabouts every day during the off-season.

The controls will now focus on testing players defined as "at risk," such as those recovering from injury or who previously used a banned substance.