Clean Sport

At Edinburgh, we are committed to ensuring a clean sport environment for all athletes.

Our Clean Sport Commitment

Sport is a central part of life at the University of Edinburgh. We provide opportunities for elite athletes, health and wellbeing, club level and inclusive sport as well as academic programmes, teaching and research across several sport and exercise disciplines within Moray House School of Education.

The University of Edinburgh adopts the UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) position that cheating, including doping, is fundamentally contrary to the spirit of sport and undermines the otherwise positive impact that sport has on society. All sporting participants have the right to compete in Clean Sport.

To this end, University of Edinburgh commits to support Clean Sport in the UK in the following ways:

The University of Edinburgh supports the mission of UK Anti-Doping and WADA in achieving Clean Sport.
All athletes are expected to play, train and compete in line with the spirit of sport, including the Anti-Doping rules.
All coaches and athlete support personnel are expected to perform their role in line with the spirit of sport, including the Anti-Doping rules.
The University of Edinburgh is committed to supporting the prevention of doping behaviour in collaboration with other UK sporting bodies.
Employed and associated ‘staff’ will not condone, assist or in any way support the use of prohibited substances and methods (unless permitted by a Therapeutic Use Exemption) in any aspects of their work.
Breaches of the above points, or any rules/policies referred to in University of Edinburgh’s own code of practice/conduct will be acted upon accordingly.
All employed and associated staff will be expected to contact UK Anti-Doping should they become aware of an athlete or NGB member using or considering the usage of a prohibited substance or prohibited method. This contact should be done in confidence on the dedicated confidential Report Doping in Sport line.
The University of Edinburgh will uphold any sanctions placed upon an athlete by UK Anti-Doping or other associated body in accordance with the World Anti-Doping Code.
The University of Edinburgh supports UK Anti-Doping to undertake any public interest testing where required and commits to sharing any relevant university research or data with UK Anti-Doping within current GDPR regulations.
The University of Edinburgh commits to disseminating any research from UK Anti-Doping that is, or may be, relevant to selected groups of students and staff within the University.

Clean Sport Policy
Key objectives
Athlete Education: Educate athletes in line with the UK Anti-Doping curriculum framework and minimum educational standards including, but not limited to, topics such as the principles of strict liability, rule violations, consequences and reporting doping in sport. Promote the resources available to them to check their own compliance. Coach Education: Educate coaches and athlete support personnel to provide a reliable and positive source of advice for athletes and understand how they play a part in keeping sport clean Nutritional Support: Provision of robust nutritional advice to aid athletes in reaching their goals through natural means.
Implementation
1. Athlete Education All athletes who wish to be part of either The University of Edinburgh’s Scholarship Programme or a member of one of the Performance Team Sports will be required to provide an up to date pass certificate for Clean Sport+ by 31st October in the season in which they wish to compete. Athletes who have not completed the course by this date will be excluded from programmes and will receive no support from The University of Edinburgh in either support services or scholarships. All athletes must attend at least one Clean Sport workshop on an annual basis, delivered by a qualified UKAD Educator or a UKAD National Trainer. Attendance will be monitored and data sent to UKAD. Athletes will be directed to the best available online educational websites and substance checking databases. Any changes to UKAD or WADA rules will be shared with all athletes. All athletes will be provided with details for the designated university anti-doping point of contact to field questions or concerns. 2. Coach Education All members of coaching staff employed by the University of Edinburgh Sport & Exercise and all members of athlete support personnel working within the Performance Programme will be required to provide an up to date pass certificate for the UKAD Coach Clean Course within 1 month of commencing employment and maintain its validity throughout their employment, as a condition of their ongoing work with athletes. All employed members of coaching staff and all members of athlete support personnel must attend at least one Clean Sport workshop on an annual basis, delivered by a qualified UKAD Educator or a UKAD National Trainer. Attendance will be monitored and data sent to UKAD. 3. Nutritional Support Athletes will be provided with appropriate nutritional advice to help them achieve optimal nutritional intake for performance demands. All Performance coaching staff and athlete support personnel will encourage a ‘food first’ approach on the topic of supplementation. Athletes will be made aware that there are no guarantees any supplement product will be free of banned substances and educated to follow the ‘Need, Risk, Consequence’ framework when making decisions on supplementation.
Ongoing Commitments
The University of Edinburgh Performance Sport Department is committed to the ongoing review of the Performance Sport Clean Sport Policy to ensure compliance with any future alterations and changes to anti-doping regulations and minimum educational standards. The University of Edinburgh Performance Sport Department will be leaders in advocating anti-doping education and compliance across the wider sporting community at the University of Edinburgh. We commit to working with our colleagues and partners from the Edinburgh University Sports Union, Pleasance Sport Complex and Gym, Peffermill Playing Fields and Easter Bush Gym to promote a clean sport university and maintain our UKAD Accredited Institution status. Reviewed: December 2022

UK Anti-Doping

UKAD is the national body responsible for creating a UK-wide environment of confidence in clean sport. We adopt their stance and support their work, fighting for a fair platform for sport, at all levels.

The University is one of 15 institutions awarded Founding Partner status of UKAD’s Clean Sport Higher Education Partnership due to their engagement with the previous accreditation scheme, or through their on-going involvement and commitment to actively promoting clean sport.

The Partnership, launched by UK Anti-Doping (UKAD), is free to join and utilises a regional structure to collaborate, challenge and share best practice among institutions within the UK. The aim of the Partnership is to support the Higher Education sector to further develop the culture of clean sport.

Find out more about UKAD and information on reporting doping intelligence through their website:

UK Anti Doping

Report Doping in Sport

UKAD Twitter

University Awarded UKAD Founding Partner Status