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Potential Australian Olympians will have to sign a “prohibited association” clause preventing them from dealing with coaches, trainers, sports scientists and other support personnel who have violated anti-doping rules in the lead-up to the Rio Games.
The new code from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) which contains the clause, will not be instituted until January but the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) said in a statement it will enforce shadow team members to sign on to the agreement in advance of that date.
Letters outlining the agreement have already been sent to all National Sporting Federations who will identify up to 1200 athletes comprising the shadow team, according to the AOC.
“We totally support the new code and athletes who want to compete in the Australian Olympic Team in Rio need to understand the changes and comply now,” AOC president John Coates said.
Last week Coates advised relevant sporting bodies of the need to be WADA Code compliant by the start of next year, otherwise they risked losing their membership status.
“For a long time now the Olympic movement has expressed grave concerns about the athlete’s entourage, those people who surround the athletes and actively promote and assist in doping,” Coates said.
“They are a scourge on sport. Previously they have been outside the jurisdiction of anti-doping authorities, not any more”.
Other changes to the WADA Code from January 1 include punishment for athletes caught cheating, increasing from a two-year ban to four years which would automatically rule them out of the next Olympic Games.