The National Doping Inspection Committee announced that it used for the first time in the history of local sporting competitions the method of detecting doping by taking blood samples from a vein, during the semi-final of the President’s Cup of Football between Al Ain, Sharjah, Al Dhafra and Bani Yas, the day before yesterday.
The head of the National Anti-Doping Committee, Dr. Rima Al-Hosani, explained that "the method that was applied was carried out in an easy, smooth and successful manner, and the procedures for testing through blood require a maximum of 20-30 minutes since the player enters the examination room and draws blood from the vein."
Al-Hosani confirmed that they anticipated the expected decision of the International Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which in the future will impose a method of taking blood samples. She said: "We want to place the UAE at the forefront of the countries that have applied this method, before it becomes mandatory in the near future."
Al Hosani said that the players who signed the doping test were very cooperative, and they presented the players with an educational campaign to explain the method and mechanism of the examination, explaining that taking blood samples proved that he discovered more types of prohibited substances and with high accuracy. Al Hosani pointed out that the doping test through blood samples was used in the UAE for the first time during the FIFA Club World Cup Abu Dhabi 2017, but it was applied for the first time in local competitions in the semi-finals of the President’s Cup.