WADA 2021 List of Prohibited Substances and Methods in place for the new year

MIES (Switzerland) - The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced its 2021 List of Prohibited Substances and Methods (List), first published on September 30, 2020, on January 1, 2021. View the WADA 2021 List of Prohibited Substances and Methods list here. 


The 2021 List has been redesigned in order to improve navigation and usability for athletes and their support personnel and was approved by WADA's Executive Committee (ExCo) during its meeting on September 14-15, 2020.

The List, which is one of the eight International Standards mandatory for all Signatories of the World Anti-Doping Code (Code), designates what substances and methods are prohibited both in- and out-of-competition, and which substances are banned in particular sports.

The List's annual revision process is led by WADA, commencing in January 2020 and concluding with the List's publication by October 1, 2020. It is an extensive consultation process that includes WADA's List Expert Group gathering information, circulating a draft List among stakeholders, taking their submissions into consideration and revising the draft, followed by a review by the Agency's Health, Medical and Research (HMR) Committee.

The HMR Committee then makes its recommendation to the WADA Executive Committee, who approved the List during a meeting in September 2020.

For a substance or method to be added to the List, it must be determined that it meets two of the following three criteria:

1. It has the potential to enhance or enhances sport performance
2. It represents an actual or potential health risk to the athletes
3. It violates the spirit of sport

It should be noted that for athletes who have a legitimate medical reason for using a prohibited substance or method that is on the List, they may be accommodated if they meet the criteria outlined in the International Standard for Therapeutic Use Exemptions (ISTUE). The TUE Program is a rigorous and necessary part of elite sport which has overwhelming acceptance from athletes, physicians and anti-doping stakeholders.

To view the changes made in the 2021 Prohibited List as compared to the 2020 version, please see the 2021 Summary of Modifications and Explanatory Notes.

The 2021 Prohibited List; the 2021 Summary of Modifications and Explanatory Notes; and the 2021 Monitoring Program are available for download on WADA's website in multiple languages.

The List's mobile-friendly digital edition can be accessed here.

If a player needs to take a Prohibited Substance for therapeutic purposes, please fill out and submit FIBA's TUE Application as soon as possible. Click here for more details on anti-doping regulations at FIBA.  

FIBA