The Fight against Doping in Sport in Interaction with European Union Law: Proportionality of Ineligibility and Anti-Doping Education
Abstrakt
This dissertation researches the interaction between the fight against doping in sport and the law of the European Union. It particularly analyses whether the World Anti-Doping Agency and otheranti-doping organizations respect the proportionality ofineligibilityfor dopingand related role of anti-doping education.The findings of this dissertation demonstratethat anti-doping organizations have crossed the borders of their conditional autonomyand good governanceunder European Unionlaw through breach of the proportionality of ineligibility in interaction withanti-doping education.In particular, it concludes that they underestimate the role of education asananti-doping element, which interactswith proportionality of ineligibility.Anti-doping education raises awareness, informs, communicates, instills values, and develops life skills and decision-making capability to prevent intentional and unintentional doping and its consequences, includinga potentially disproportionateineligibility. As such, it also enablesthe deterrence effect ofanti-doping rules and sanctions.
On top of that, the level of anti-doping education isan element of athletes' fault influencing the proportionality of ineligibility. Simultaneously,the WorldAnti-Doping Code includes the rule of law element, which requires the respect forthe principle of proportionality, which is also a general principle of European Unionlaw.However, this is not always the case.
Selected provisions ofthe fixed-sanction framework of the World Anti-Doping Code provide ineligibility which goes beyond what is necessary to fight doping. Moreover, they excessively limit the sanctioning flexibility of hearing panels to conduct a case-by-case assessment and imposea proportionate ineligibility based on all objective and subjective elements of particular cases. Therefore,the World Anti-Doping Agency and other anti-doping organizations should change their attitude and emphasize the proportionality of ineligibility andrelated role ofanti-doping education.As such, theywould improve theirgood governance both externally towards bodies and institutions of the European Union, and internally towards anti-doping stakeholders, especially athletes.