Anti‐Doping Testing at FIFA World Cup 2022

The 22nd FIFA World Cup, the world championship for national football teams, was held in Qatar from November 20th to December 18th, 2022. The doping control analysis was successfully conducted by the Anti-Doping Laboratory Qatar (ADLQ) using its state-of-the-art facilities and instrumentation. To meet the short reporting timeline of 24-72 h, additional staff was recruited, trained, and incorporated into the routine activities during the event period. Furthermore, six scientific experts from other World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-accredited laboratories were also invited to ensure adequate staffing throughout the event. In total, 57 scientific and non-scientific staff of ADLQ participated in the FIFA testing. A total of 1612 samples (623 urine, 622 serum, and 367 whole blood samples) were collected and analyzed. The number of serum samples that were tested for hGH using the isoform method had been the highest compared to any other sport event in the past. The results of all the analyzed urine and blood samples were negative, with two cases each being reported to contain the monitoring substance codeine and the confounding factor carboxy finasteride.