Footy signs up to 'freeze and store'
The AFL has signed up to "freeze and store" blood and urine samples for 10 years in an anti-doping recommendation to deter cheating.
The league's integrity department is one of 24 signatories to an international consensus statement by anti-doping bodies, which calls for samples to be kept longer so technology can catch up with performance-enhancing substances that currently evade detection.
Published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine this week, the World Anti-Doping Code 2015 has the backing of groups including the International Olympic Committee and world soccer body FIFA.
It also calls for wider biological profiling, the so-called "biological passport" which shows tiny changes that doping can make to an athlete's unique genetic blueprint without the need to identify the substance.
The anti-doping groups said in a statement that it marked a "sea-change" in thinking about how to crack down on increasingly sophisticated techniques some athletes used in an attempt to cheat.
"The deterrent effect of delayed testing with new analytical methods is substantial," they said.
Players at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil in June will be subject to long-term biological monitoring.
In a commentary for the journal, FIFA chief medical officer Jiri Dvorak said other sporting groups and codes had moved to introduce the new measures.
The AFL said it complied with rules of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority, which had started using the biological passport. It could store samples for up to eight years in its deep freeze facility.
An AFL spokesman said it supported any initiatives that helped combat doping in sport by enhancing detection and strengthening deterrent factors.
"It is equally important to invest in investigative techniques that support athlete testing regimes," he said.
