Many athletes find themselves in situations of doubt when, for example, they need to take medication to fight a simple cold or headache, not taking into account if there are any substances considered as dopant in the composition of the medical drug. Thus, the International Chair of Sports Medecine of the Universidad Católica de Murcia, led by Dr. Pedro Manonelles, has given athletes access to a free, online consultancy service with experts in sports medicine to prevent possible cases of accidental doping.

Pedro Manonelles and his team have developed a tool to help athletes who find themselves in this kind of situation. The application consists of a simple online form that the athletes complete and where they can express their doubts. This form is sent to Manonelles’ team, who respond as quickly as possible.

The director of UCAM’s Chair of Sports Medicine explains how the idea emerged: “The prevention of doping is of utmost priority to us. UCAM’s president considers that it is a really important issue and thus requested a doping prevention program including informative measures for UCAM’s athletes and technicians, but also for people from outside the University.”

 Another highlight of this project is that it is not strictly reserved to UCAM athletes, but instead it is open to “all athletes, technicians and any person who forms part of university staff or from other origins. Through an agreement with the Spanish Society of Sports Medicine, this service is available to anyone interested”.

Accidental doping exists and that is the reason why it is important for athletes to have various tools to avoid it, since “the detection of a substance in an athlete’s biological sample results in a two year disqualification. Moreover, athletes in which prohibited substances are discovered have to demonstrate they did not made use of it in a fraudulent way, which is particularly complicated and hard”.

The form is available through the website of the International Chair of Sports Medicine or directly in the form’s link.