The responsibility for testing and results management

The Code contains provisions in various Articles concerning the allocation of responsibility for testing and investigations, the management of results by anti-doping organisations, and hearings. Again, the Code's provisions establish standards in this area which the Signatories must meet, but the Articles do not have to be adopted verbatim into anti-doping policies. It must also be borne in mind that the International Standards contain the detail of the process by which samples are taken and analysed, and that the application of the Standards is a mandatory part of the testing and investigation process for Signatories.

Various organisations may be responsible under the Code for the testing of an athlete in- or out-of-competition, or for the investigation of anti-doping violations. After testing or an investigation, the results obtained will be managed in order to conduct any further investigation required, and to bring any allegation arising from the investigation to a hearing. The hearing process must be conducted to the standards set out in Article 8 of the Code. Related matters such as confidentiality during the investigative and hearing process, and reporting after a hearing, are also the subject of Articles in the Code (primarily Article 14).

Article 15: clarification of doping control responsibilities

The Code proceeds on the basic principle that the anti-doping organisation which initiated and directed the collection of samples or discovered the violation in question will be responsible for the management of results and the conduct of hearings.