Sao Paulo, June 18 (IANS/EFE) World football governing body FIFA said that 91.5 percent of the 800 players in the World Cup were tested for drugs without any positive results.
According to the FIFA's Anti-Doping Regulations, the remaining players can be tested at any time during the tournament, which witnessed the first introduction of the Biological Passport, an initiative that has been "very well received by players, coaches and doctors", according to Jiri Dvorak, FIFA's chief medical officer, reports EFE.
"Although we can offer excellent results in our fight against doping, this fight is still one of the most important medical FIFA activities. We are happy and we are proud that for the first time in our history, all players involved in the World Cup were tested through blood and urine," said the head of the Medical Committee of FIFA, Michel D'Hooghe.
Away from the pre-World Cup tests, two players from each World Cup match will be chosen for drug tests.
FIFA underlined Tuesday that the players' results will be compared to their previous results to see if there has been any notable changes that might result in showing if a player has been doping.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has applauded the Biological Passport initiative, "as an effective means to protect the rights of sportsmen of integrity".
"It's the first time in the history of a great competition that players has been systematically analysed prior to set individual biological profiles, including parameters of blood and urine. We encourage other sports to follow this lead," said David Howman, WADA's general director.
--IANS/EFE
abr/vt
