Drug Free Sport New Zealand is to abandon its current testing of 1st XV Top Four rugby tournament players, after no positive tests were recorded over three years.

The testing was limited - with only eight players tested on the first day of the tournament each year from 2017-19. The tournament is not being held this year because of Covid-19.

The testing was part of DFSNZ’s educational programme called “Good Clean Sport” over the three years, attended by thousands of school athletes.

DFSNZ has had the programme independently reviewed and decided to expand the education side but stop the Top Four rugby testing.

The independent review, carried out by lawyer and three-time Winter Olympian Ben Sandford concluded that the limited testing at Top Four level should be moved away from schools into the high performance arena.

The review made nine recommendations, aimed at getting an appropriate balance between anti-doping education and deterrence in the school sport environment.

“In the face of growing risks internationally in school sport, our goal has always been to support our up and coming athletes so that they continue the culture of clean sport and high integrity in New Zealand,” DFSNZ chief executive Nick Paterson said.

“This review has been a great opportunity to step back and consider our programme within the context of issues around athlete welfare and school sport, in line with our original goals. We want to improve the health, wellbeing, and good decision making of our young athletes, not add unnecessary pressure.”

Last year more than 5000 athletes attended DFSNZ’s clean sport workshops.

“As well as working with high performance athletes, we ran 85 workshops which were attended by nearly 2500 school students. The workshops are presented by current or former athletes; and are focused on helping young sportspeople to make good decisions,” Paterson said.

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Article added: Wednesday 09 September 2020