Number and Frequency of Athletes Tested by Anti-Doping Singapore

Mr Mark Chay asked the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth what are the current number and frequency of athletes tested under Anti-Doping Singapore’s testing pools, broken down by sport, age group and level of participation.

Anti-Doping Singapore (ADS), which is the national anti-doping authority in Singapore, develops its testing regime for athletes according to its Test Distribution Plan (TDP). TDP determines which athletes are to be tested, what prohibited substances to test for, and the timing and frequency of these tests. ADS regularly reviews and adjusts TDP to account for risk parameters, such as competition cycles and changes to the carding statuses of our national athletes.

ADS conducted a total of 86 tests in FY2021 across 17 sports. This includes in-competition and out-of-competition tests, which comprise urine and blood samples. The majority of these tests fall under ADS’ testing programme, while the others are fee-for-service contracts. The figures for the number of tests performed and the breakdown of these by sport, are available on ADS’ website.

ADS’ testing regime is designed to prevent doping in sports by detection and deterrence. For this to be effective, testing has to be unpredictable and conducted without notice to prevent attempts by potential dopers seeking to game the system.