Tennis Australia – Anti-Doping Policy 1st January 2015
Which Problem does the Policy Seek to Address
In the Anti-Doping Policy by Tennis Australia (2014) they defined doping as “Athletes or other Persons shall be responsible for knowing what constitutes an anti-doping rule violation and the substances and methods which have been included on the Prohibited List“. From the definition, we can see that the anti-doping policy is a document for the athlete or the individual to be aware of all the substances and the violations that can be occurred. In research by Rudenko (2014) he analyzed that performance-enhancing drugs in sports raise several interrelated problems like medical, legal, ethics/moral, pedagogical aspect, and social.
Medical
Occasional cases of kidney failure have been identified with excessive use of anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS). Independently, significant inter-individual and inter-ethnic variation in the metabolizing of the compounds has also been identified (Deshmukh et al., 2010). In many pieces of research, doping can even lead to death, this policy addresses the well-being of the athletes for prosperous health. The competitive nature of the sports influence the athletes to indulge themselves into the doping, it leaves a physical and mental trauma on the athletes who are aware of the dangers but are influenced by the presumed glory that the performance
Legal
The legal issue which is being addressed by the policy is that in different countries internationally the legal system towards the punishment would differ from other countries where they would either be insufficient or not present at all. The policy provides a standard for the athletes as it is in accordance with the World Anti-Doping Code, ASADA Act, and ASADA Regulations. The policy clearly states the right for a fair hearing for athletes, the banned substances, fair right for appeals, and punishments.
Ethics/Moral
The overall goal of the policy is to clarify that doping is inherently unethical for sporting spirit ethics and to guarantee that all anti-doping agencies, including young people and competitors, establish and enforce awareness and prevention measures to discourage drug enhancement drugs. Doping leads to institutional risks, both at the individual and the overall level, by altering the level of competition, these ethical and moral issues are addressed in the policy. It may also lead to performance-enhancing drugs misuse and thereby add to a corrosive cycle of performance-enhancing drugs exploited in all forms of sport, not only is it a demoralizing effect on all clean athletes.
Pedagogical Aspects
The policy also addresses a sustainability issue where the young athletes are provided with the standard and understanding of the fairness of the competition, their health, and ethical duty towards playing sports (Murofushi, Kawata, Kamimura, Hirosawa, & Shibata, 2018).
Social
The social aspect of the doping is also addressed with the policies, the people want to see competitive sports in its true nature, using any performance-enhancing drugs would give the athlete an unfair advantage, impacting the overall experience of the sports. It is discouraging for the society and kids to see their idols indulge in doping activities (Schneider & Butcher, 2002). Doping disregards human limitations and enhances the ability of the athlete in ways that are not possible in normal circumstances.
References
“Anti-Doping Policy”; Tennis Australia; 2014
Deshmukh, N., Petróczi, A., Barker, J., Székely, A. D., Hussain, I., & Naughton, D. P. (2010). Potentially harmful advantage to athletes: a putative connection between UGT2B17 gene deletion polymorphism and renal disorders with prolonged use of anabolic androgenic steroids. Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy, 5(1), 7.
Murofushi, Y., Kawata, Y., Kamimura, A., Hirosawa, M., & Shibata, N. (2018). Impact of anti-doping education and doping control experience on anti-doping knowledge in Japanese university athletes: a cross-sectional study. Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy, 13(1), 44.
Rudenko, V. (2014). Main modern problems of doping in sport. Pedagogics, psychology, medical-biological problems of physical training and sports, 18(6), 53-57.
Schneider, A. J., & Butcher, R. B. (2002). A philosophical overview of the arguments on banning doping in sport. In Values in sport (pp. 195-209): Taylor & Francis.
