The new International Standard for Education (ISE) details the mandatory education requirements to be included in a Signatory’s anti-doping program. Additional emphasis is added on the key role of National Federations. 
National Federations must conduct anti-doping education in coordination with their National/Regional Anti-Doping Organisations (NADO/RADO) and in accordance with the ISE. Please refer to sections 4 “Adjusting Your Education Plan to the 2021 ADRHA” and 5 “Developing a partnership with your NADO/RADO” for this essential part of Code compliance.

Although the conditions under which TUEs can be granted have not fundamentally changed, the FEI urges all National Federations to make clear to all their athletes competing at the international level that they must obtain a TUE from the FEI before taking any medical treatment containing prohibited substances/methods. 
This rule applies to all international athletes regardless of their level and irrelevant of the TUE policy applicable at the national level. 
Please refer to the TUE information on Inside.FEI.org for details.

The 2021 Code and ADRHA will introduce a few changes in the categories and definitions of Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs):
♦  There will be 11 ADRVs instead of 10. The new ADRV (article 2.11) provides protection for those who report doping or non-compliance with the Code or International Standards.
♦  "Complicity" will now include attempted complicity (article 2.9).
♦  The definition of "Tampering" (article 2.5 and article 10.3.1) will be expanded to specifically include fraudulent conduct during results management. Tampering during results management will be treated as a separate first violation with the period of ineligibility, 2 years (in exceptional circumstances) to 4 years, to be served consecutively with any period of ineligibility imposed for the underlying violation.
♦  To open a case against an athlete for "Prohibited Association"(article 2.10), advance notice will no longer be a requirement. The FEI will be able open a case against an athlete if it can demonstrate that the athlete knew the athlete support person was ineligible.

The following changes will apply under the 2021 Code and ADRHA:

♦  “Protected Persons” and “Minors”
Flexible sanctioning rules apply to Minors (persons under 18) and athletes described as “Protected Persons” (which also includes individuals who, for reasons other than age, have been determined to lack legal capacity under applicable national legislation), including:

a). No requirement to establish how a prohibited substance entered the athlete’s system to benefit from the No Significant Fault or Negligence rule. (Definition of No Significant Fault or Negligence).
b). Article 10.5.1.3: Minimum sanction is a reprimand when No Significant Fault is established.
c). Article 14.3.6: Public Disclosure not mandatory.

​Elite 16- and 17-year old athletes are not included in the definition of “Protected Persons” because, considering their sport experience necessary to achieve that level of performance, they should receive the same treatment as the other elite athletes against whom they are competing. These elite 16- and 17 -year old athletes will not benefit from the special flexible sanctioning rules set forth in (a) and (b) above. They will, as “Minors” however, be excused from the mandatory Public Disclosure rule in Article 14.3.2 as provide in Article 14.3.7.

♦  Additional obligations for the FEI
a). Subject to applicable law, and in accordance with Article 20.3.4 of the Code, all FEI board members, directors, officers and those employees (and those of appointed Delegated Third Parties), who are involved in any aspect of Doping Control, must sign a form provided by the FEI, agreeing to be bound by the ADRHA as Persons in conformity with the Code for direct and intentional misconduct.
b). Subject to applicable law, and in accordance with Article 20.3.5 of the Code, any FEI employee who is involved in Doping Control (other than authorized anti-doping Education or rehabilitation programs) must sign a statement provided by the FEI confirming that they are not Provisionally Suspended or serving a period of Ineligibility and have not been directly or intentionally engaged in conduct within the previous six (6) years which would have constituted a violation of anti-doping rules if Code-compliant rules had been applicable to them.

Under the 2021 Code and ADRHA the following changes will apply regarding prohibited substances:

♦  “Substances of Abuse”, a new category in the Prohibited List, includes substances often abused in society.
Athletes who can prove their use 1) was not related to sport and 2) was taken out-of-competition can receive a 3-month sanction (reduced to 1 month if they attend a rehabilitation program).
This change was made to answer the challenges posed by sanctions for street drugs (cocaine is a particular problem), which are a problem for society in general unrelated to sport performance. While stimulants like cocaine can clearly have a performance enhancing effect when used in-competition, often the quantity detected in-competition strongly suggests that the use occurred out-of- competition in a social context with no effect on sport performance. In cases where an athlete has a drug problem, and not a performance enhancement problem that effects the level playing field, the athlete's health is a priority.

♦  Substances which are not prohibited out-of-competition appearing, in trace amounts, in in-competition samples (Article 4.2).
Sometimes substances taken out-of-competition may appear in an in-competition sample. If any of those substances are prohibited in-competition, the Athlete may test positive. In order to protect Athletes not intending to cheat, WADA is looking at changing or setting new reporting thresholds for such substances.

♦  Non-Retroactive Effect of Changes to the Prohibited List (Article 27.6)
Sometimes new substances become prohibited and are added to the List of Prohibited Substances and Methods (List) –if they are, they cannot be applied to existing cases (retroactively), unless there is an official notice from WADA to say they can be.
If a prohibited substance is removed from the List, an Athlete serving a sanction for that substance can apply to the FEI to ask for a reduction.

♦  Classification of certain methods as “Specified”
“Specified substances” are the substances which WADA considers could have a credible use explanation other than doping – they are not related to sport and taken out-of-competition.
WADA’s List Expert Group will see if any prohibited methods could also be classified as ‘‘specified’.
Remember, substances or methods can be added to the List at any time, and the List is always reviewed annually.

Supplements can be contaminated. This is a frequent cause of inadvertent doping. To address this problem, the 2021 Code and ADRHA provide that new reporting limits for prohibited substances often found in supplements will be applied by WADA accredited laboratories.
This means athletes who cannot say which supplement caused the positive test are better protected (NB: they must still prove they mitigated the risk in taking supplements by undertaking thorough research about the product before taking it).

The 2021 Code and ADRHA introduce new principles for the various stages of case results management:

♦  A two-stage notification process (initial notification, notification of charge) is now mandatory for anti-doping rule violations.
The initial notification gives the notified athlete/person the right to provide an explanation within a reasonable deadline.
If, after receipt of the explanation or expiry of the deadline to provide such explanation, the Results Management Authority (FEI, NADO, IOC, IPC or other major event organizer) is (still) satisfied that an anti-doping rule violation has been committed, it will charge the athlete/person with the anti-doping rule violation(s) they are asserted to have breached (“Notification of charge”).

♦  The meaning of “Intention” has been clarified:  It does not matter if the person who committed the act knew what they were doing was an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV).

♦  More Rigorous Standards for Fair Hearings under Article 8
This applies to the FEI, but also to National Federations, who must ensure that any national level anti-doping rule violation cases discovered by National Federations are adjudicated by an Operationally Independent hearing panel in accordance with Article 8.1 and the (new) International Standard for Results Management.

♦  New article entitled “Results Management Agreements” (Article 10.8)
Articles 10.6.3 (Prompt Admission) and Article 10.11.2 (Timely Admission) have been eliminated and replaced with a new Article 10.8. Both of the prior Articles have been a repeated source of questions and misinterpretations.
The new Article 10.8 has two parts. Article 10.8.1 provides that where an athlete or other person who is facing an asserted period of ineligibility of 4 or more years admits the violation and accepts the asserted period of ineligibility within twenty days of notice of the ADRV charge, then there will be a reduction of one year from the otherwise applicable period of Ineligibility. This provides some incentive for the individual to admit the Anti- Doping Rule Violation and saves the ADO³  the cost of a hearing without being too lenient.
The second part of Article 10.8 (Article 10.8.2) provides an opportunity for the ADO, the athlete or other person and WADA to enter into a Case Resolution Agreement in which the applicable period of ineligibility can be agreed upon based on the facts of the case. The reduction possibilities permitted in a Case Resolution Agreement are not something that a hearing body is permitted to impose or review. Case Resolution Agreements are not appealable by anyone. As in the case of “Substantial Assistance,” an athlete who is negotiating a Case Resolution Agreement is entitled to tell his or her story under a “Without Prejudice Agreement.”

♦  Public Disclosure (Article 14.3)
Failure to make a public disclosure of anti-doping decisions under Code article 14.3.2 will not be considered a Code Compliance Violation where it is prohibited by national law. This rule was adopted to address the issue that public disclosure as required by article 14.3.2 may violate national law in some countries.

♦  Implementation of Decisions (Formerly Mutual Recognition)
The 2021 Code clarifies that:
- all the results management decisions of Signatory ADOs are automatically recognized worldwide in all sports. Therefore other ADOs make no separate implementation decision and only the decision can be challenged.
- all provisional suspensions are automatically binding on other Signatories.

♦  Forfeited Prize Money Goes to Other Athletes (Article 10.11)
Article 10.11 now provides that when an athlete is required to forfeit prize money as a result of an ADRV and the forfeited prize money is collected by the ADO, the ADO shall take reasonable measures to distribute the forfeited prize money to the athletes who would have been entitled to the prize money, had the forfeiting athlete not competed. This principle was already the FEI’s standard practice under the current rules.

³ ADO: WADA or a Signatory that is responsible for adopting rules for initiating, implementing or enforcing any part of the Doping Control process. This includes, for example, the International Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee, other Major Event Organisations that conduct Testing at their Events, International Federations, and National Anti-Doping Organisations.

The 2021 Code and ADRHA introduce the following changes in relation to sanctions:

♦  Clarifications relating to the sanctions for violation of a Provisional Suspension (Code article 10.14.3).
♦  If athletes train or compete when they are provisionally suspended they will not get credit for any time served.
♦  Increased Upper End of the Sanction for Complicity (Code article 2.9 and 10.3.4).
♦  Re-Introduction of the Concept of "Aggravating Circumstances" (Code article 10.4).
♦  Expansion of the Types of Cooperation which Justify a Reduced Sanction for Substantial Assistance – (Code article 10.7.1.1).
♦  Express Authority of a Signatory to Exclude Athletes and Other Persons from its Events as a Sanction Against a Member Federation (Code article 12). As a result of this article, discipline by the FEI against a member National Federation may include exclusion of athletes from that country from its events.