On October 17, anti-doping seminar has been held with the cooperative organizational support of Azerbaijan Weightlifting Federation (AZE WF) and Azerbaijan National Anti-doping Agency (AMADA) with the instructions of International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) at the conference hall of AAAF Park Residential Complex. At this third seminar, athletes, various qualified specialists, administrative and managers attended as listeners. The seminar focused on issues such as the spirit of sport, violation type and applicable sanctions, Substances Prohibited at All Times, Prohibited Methods, “What you need to know” and other similar topics.
Firstly, Rizvan Rasulov, the General Secretary of AZE WF, took a floor. He emphasized the importance of regular seminars and the contribution of federation to the fight against doping. Rasulov added that the close collaboration with AMADA is a great incentive for the clean and competitive development of the country sport.
Then, the representatives of AMADA Dr. Farid Aliyev ( Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Therapeutic Use Exceptions) and Lala Hajiyeva (Education and Training Manager) gave detailed information.
Initially, it was talked about the spirit of sport. The ethics, fair play and honesty, health, excellence in performance, character and education, fun and joy, teamwork, dedication and commitment, respect to rules and laws,respect for self and other participants, courage, community and solidarity have been stated the key criteria in this regard. Following all of these, the reasons for the applications of rules, the penalties in case of failure, prohibited methods as gene doping and other issues were provided.
Discussions on the list of prohibited substances have been based on the renewal period of the list, the reasons for the inclusion of the substances, the increase of sport performances, the harm to the athlete’s health, the contradicts to the spirit of sport.
At the seminar, the athletes were informed that the samples can be taken from them at any time, any place, without any warning (both in-competition and out-of-competition). Athletes are responsible for any prohibited substance found to be present in their samples. According to the rules and regulations, the athletes should comply with Anti-Doping Rules, to work with the person who are ineligible on account of an anti-doping rules violation is forbidden, should ensure that no prohibited substance enters his or her body and that no prohibited method is used and the treatment received does not violate the Anti-doping Rules, as well as provide whereabouts information, and show loyalty to the “No Needle” policy.
During the interactive seminar, the listeners’ questions were answered and discussions took place on the various current and future problems that they may encounter.
It should be noted that AZE WF has recently expanded the anti-doping measures. Federation attaches great importance to this aspect, especially enlightening of the younger generation.
The work carried out by AMADA should also be emphasized. The main functions of this organization are the managing and promotion of anti-doping program, testing in and out-of- competition, subsequent processing of results, athlete enlightenment, proof of doping, prevention and prophylaxis, and eradication of doping use in public and sport communities.
