In an effort to provide transparency for its new anti-doping policy, the UFC and the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) have made its year-round Anti-Doping Policy available online. The policy will go into effect on July 1, 2015.
The online policy is broken down into 4 sections: UFC Anti-Doping Policy, UFC TUE Policy, UFC Whereabouts Policy and UFC Arbitration Rules. As indicated in its news conference earlier this month, USADA will administer the UFC policy and its penalties.
Notably, the Whereabouts Policy provides that fighters must be a part of the UFC Registered Testing Pool (“UFC RTP”). Among the responsibilities for the fighters, they must provide a mailing address, an email address, a primary phone number for the athlete, consent by the athlete to the sharing of his/her Whereabouts Filing and other anti-doping information with athletic commissions and other Anti-Doping Organizations, a temporary address for the athlete if they are training away from their home and the name and location of the place where the athlete will be training as well as the time-frames they expect to be in the gym.
A violation known as a “Wherabouts Failure” may occur if an athlete fails to be available for a drug test. Also, if there are 3 failures to provide an athlete’s whereabouts, it will be considered an anti-doping policy violation. USADA may also take into consideration Whereabouts Failures declared by an Athletic Commission.
If a fighter appeals a violation of the drug testing policy, it agrees to arbitration per the policy. As for the Arbitration rules, McLaren Global Sports Solutions, Inc. (“MGSS”) will administer the Arbitration Rules. The organization is a Toronto, Canada consulting company “offering differentiated sport services to clients in professional and elite amateur sport” according to its web site. MGSS will provide a list of Arbitrators to hear appeals. Of note, MGSS will only utilize arbitrators who are or have been Court of Arbitration for Sport arbitrators and those that have expertise in anti-doping policy violations.
If a fighter is to appeal an alleged violation, the fighter (or his representatives) must file a Notice of Appeal within 10 days of the notice of violation from USADA. In addition to the notice, they must also file a request for Arbitration form and a filing fee of $2,700.
Despite the international fighters in the UFC, the rules state that all arbitrations must occur in English.
Payout Perspective:
In this post we focus on two areas of interest if you are a fighter or represent one. First, the Whereabouts Policy provides what a fighter needs to know to abide by the drug testing protocol. In reading the protocol, it does not seem too restrictive. Then again, if you are independent contractor, you have to wonder why you have to provide your known whereabouts to a contractor. Of course, the argument in support of the Whereabouts Policy is that if you are in support of drug testing in the UFC, you should be willing to let them know where you are even if you are not fighting. As for the appeal provision, the $2,700 fee a fighter must pay is steep but is the price that one must pay if a test is positive for a banned substance. It is interesting that despite not being a signatory of the WADA Code, it would request its arbitrators have experience with the Court of Arbitration for Sport – a requirement of using the CAS is that it be a signatory of the WADA Code. It appears that through this it has an eye to international enforcement of its policy. Overall, the transparency is a step in the right direction. We still must see how it will work with athletic commissions domestic and international in enforcing the UFC policy.
UPDATED: RE Filing fee, a fighter may request a waiver or fee reduction of $2,700 based on financial hardship.
Leave a Reply