The Irish Football Association is urging clubs and players in Northern Ireland to familiarise themselves with the latest Prohibited List issued by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
WADA’s wide-ranging list designates the substances and methods that are prohibited in sport globally, effective from 1 January 2025.
The Irish FA works in partnership with UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) to protect the integrity of football in Northern Ireland. And UKAD ensures all sports bodies in the UK comply with the World Anti-Doping Code as set out by WADA.
The Irish FA follows and applies UKAD anti-doping rules that all athletes/players and athlete/player support personnel must abide by.
The rules of the Irish FA are consistent with the World Anti-Doping Code, the core document that harmonises anti-doping policies, rules and regulations within sport globally.
The anti-doping rules of the Irish FA are the rules published by UK Anti-Doping (or its successor), as amended from time to time. The rules apply to any club which is a member of the association, regardless of the level they participate at.
Chris Wright, the Irish Football Association’s Anti-Doping and Integrity Education Officer, continues to deliver face to face education sessions to all men’s and women’s international squads from U17 through to senior.
Sessions are also delivered to clubs in the NIFL men’s and women’s Premiership as well as the men’s Championship plus Northern Ireland’s UEFA Youth League qualifier, which this year was Cliftonville.
He explained: “We continued to embed our education sessions across the NIFL and international structures throughout 2024.
“Players and player support personnel are welcoming the sessions, which ensure they know about doping control and integrity matters, and that’s more vital than ever with doping control testing introduced into both the NIFL men’s and women’s Premiership in 2024.
“Under strict liability, players must complete the appropriate checks, part of which is understanding the WADA Prohibited List and reviewing any changes therein. Our education sessions will continue to ensure all players and player support personnel remain fully up to date on all relevant information, which in turn will make sure we have clean athletes.”
Please visit UK Anti-Doping's website here to see a summary of changes within the 2025 Prohibited List.
The following resources are available to read on WADA’s website:
• The full 2025 Prohibited List
• The WADA 2025 summary of major modifications and explanatory notes
• The 2025 monitoring programme which includes substances not currently on the list but which are being monitored by WADA for potential patterns of misuse in sport.
For further information visit Irish FA Anti-Doping.
