National Clean Sport Week Launches With Research

National Clean Sport Week launches today (Monday), backed by a range of elite sports stars, as well as 30 national governing bodies of sport, the British Olympic Association, British Paralympic Association, DCMS, and UK Sport.

Olympic gold medal winning hockey captain, Kate Richardson-Walsh OBE; three-time Olympic rowing gold medallist and member of the UKAD Athlete Committee Andrew T Hodge OBE; and Paralympic power lifting world champion Ali Jawad are amongst the athletes backing the week, starring in a series of content videos.

Meanwhile, UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) chief executive, Nicole Sapstead, has expressed fears for the future of public engagement with sport in the UK, unless the battle against cheats is stepped up, following new research for National Clean Sport Week into how doping stories are affecting public confidence in sport.

The research published on Monday by UKAD shows two thirds of the British public (66%) think that stories about an elite athlete or athletes doping in sport have had a negative impact on their trust in the integrity of sport.

In addition, nearly half of British adults (48%) say that high-profile stories on doping in sport make them think that doping is widespread.  

Nicole Sapstead said: “We are at a critical point in the fight against doping and unless action is stepped up across all sports, at all levels, to help us fight the cheats, we may find that both sports audiences and participation decrease in the future.

“It’s worrying that so many people are losing their trust in the integrity of sport because of stories they see in the media, which are making them believe doping is more widespread than it actually is.

“This isn’t the true picture in Britain, but the public don’t know about the reality. That’s why we’re launching National Clean Sport Week, to highlight the facts and the work we’re doing to keep sport clean in the UK.”

The National Clean Sport Week research found that nearly two thirds of British adults (65%) think that doping is more widespread amongst elite athletes in other countries than in Britain. While 60% believe that Britain has stricter rules, better education and testing for elite athletes to prevent doping in sport than other countries.

Kate Richardson-Walsh OBE said: “National Clean Sport Week is so important to get people talking. Spread the information, spread the knowledge to the athletes, that are already well informed, and the public generally, about how much testing goes on, how much education we are given, how much knowledge there is throughout the UK, to make sure we are competing on that clean level.”

Paralympic power lifting world champion Ali Jawad said: “‘I’ve been an elite athlete for 12 years and UKAD has educated me on anti-doping, the rules, what’s required from us and what they can support me with, every year. For me it’s been invaluable.”

UKAD and its partners are supporting athletes from grassroots to elite level through education and intelligence-led testing programmes.

Since its inception in 2009, UKAD has conducted over 58,000 tests across over 50 sports and has prosecuted 194 Anti-Doping Rule Violations.