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FIFA has implemented a robust anti-doping testing programme for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, with 2,846 tests being conducted overall and every player in the squads of the eight quarter-finalists being tested on average four and a half times since January 2022.
FIFA developed a test distribution plan (TDP) based on an analysis of doping risks in football. The TDP was shared and agreed with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and consisted of a dynamic, intelligence-based testing programme.
In addition to the tests directly conducted by FIFA, each national anti-doping organisation (NADO) and the respective football associations were contacted to seek their assistance in testing the athletes in the lead-up to the tournament.
The regular tests were complemented by FIFA’s use of the athlete biological passport programme in WADA’s ADAMS system, under which all test results, including those from confederations and NADOs collected at the main international football events as well as in national competitions, are gathered in the athlete’s passport in ADAMS.
The athlete biological passport programme features a haematological module (through blood) and a steroidal module (through urine), which FIFA’s Athlete Passport Management unit, composed of independent experts, continuously reviews to detect potential deviations that may indicate an abuse of performance-enhancing drugs. This applied to all participating players at the FIFA World Cup.
For the 2022 FIFA World Cup – Qatar, every participating player was tested in unannounced controls before the competition and further systematic tests have been performed during the competition, both with post-match controls and on non-matchdays.
As part of the programme, five players have been suspended by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee for anti-doping rule violations following positive tests after qualifying matches for the 2022 FIFA World Cup – Qatar or out-of-competition controls conducted by FIFA:
• Salvadorian player Erick Alejandro Rivera, who tested positive for clostebol following a match played on September 8, 2021, was suspended for a four-year period finishing on October 5, 2025.
• Djiboutian player Sabri Ali Mohamed, who tested positive for exogenously administered testosterone following a match played on November 12, 2021, was suspended for a four-year period finishing on January 11, 2026.
• Ivorian player, Sylvain Gbohouo, who tested positive for trimetazidine following a match played on November 16, 2021, was suspended for an 18-month period starting December 23, 2021.
• Honduran player, Wisdom Niayitey Quaye July, who tested positive for clostebol following a match played on February 2, 2022, was suspended for an 18-month period finishing on August 1, 2023.
• Costa Rican player Orlando Moisés Galo Calderón, who tested positive for clostebol during an out-of-competition control on September 21, 2022, was provisionally suspended on October 19, 2022, pending a full investigation.
The breakdown of test figures in the lead-up to and during the 2022 FIFA World Cup is as follows:
- A total of 2,846 tests have been conducted by FIFA, NADOs and confederations.
- 1,433 tests have been conducted directly by FIFA, producing a total of 3,909 samples (1,433 urine, 1,310 serum, 1,060 whole blood, 106 dried blood spot samples).
- 78% of the control conducted by FIFA were out-of-competition controls and 22% were in-competition controls.
- From November 21, 2021, 1,064 tests were conducted by FIFA in unannounced controls prior to the competition, with 2,968 samples available for analysis.
- During the competition, prior to the semi-finals, FIFA carried out 369 tests, analysing 941 samples.
- In addition, 244 FIFA World Cup qualifying-match controls were conducted, with at least two players per team tested per match.
- All participating players at the FIFA World Cup were tested at least once in the year leading up to the final competition.
- On average, every player from the eight teams that qualified for the quarter-finals have been tested 4.6 times since January, with some of them tested up to ten times.
All samples collected were analysed at WADA-accredited laboratories, with most of the analyses – particularly of all of the samples collected during the competition – carried out at the laboratory in Doha, Qatar.
