[Antidoping control. From a positive result to the consequences]

According the Portuguese doping legislation whenever an analytical positive result is found disciplinary and/or sports sanctions must be taken against the athlete. These actions are usually carried out by disciplinary bodies of national federations upon notice of the positive results reported by the laboratory. However, past experience has demonstrated that sometimes the sports authorities are not prepared to deal with the intricacies of the technical aspects involved in the analytical procedures. This is further complicated by recent recommendations of the medical commissions of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Amateur Athletics into Federation (IAAF) establishing several medical and analytical criteria that have to be taken account in the interpretation of the laboratory results. Within this context it is proposed that upon consideration of the analytical positive results in due process, the sports authorities should have a technical report produced by a panel of experts (in sports medicine, doping analysis and clinical pharmacology) with an interpretation of the results and namely with reference to the existence or not of either aggravating or attenuating circumstances so that those sports authorities become more able to apply the sanctions with justice.