A drug-free UEFA EURO 2012

UEFA has now completed its anti-doping programme for EURO 2012, which combined a comprehensive pre-tournament out-of-competition testing programme with a full in-competition programme during the tournament. Players were tested for the widest available range of potential doping substances.

Both blood and urine samples were collected by UEFA from players at all doping controls prior to and during the tournament. This meant that each of the 16 teams were visited at their pre-tournament training camp, and were also tested after each match. All tests were conducted by UEFA's team of experienced doping control officers (DCOs), who are medical doctors representing a wide range of nations such as Germany, France, Slovakia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Analysis of samples was conducted at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accredited laboratory in Warsaw, according to an advanced analytical menu designed by experts from Europe's top anti-doping laboratories. This included screening for substances such as EPO and human growth hormone.

Ten players per team were tested out-of-competition and two players per team after each match. Tournament samples were analysed within 24 hours of receipt by the laboratory to ensure that all results were known before a team's next fixture in the competition. No prohibited substances were detected in either the in-competition or pre-tournament out-of-competition programme.

Michel D'Hooghe, chairman of the UEFA Medical Committee, said: "Once again UEFA has shown its commitment to remain at the forefront of anti-doping initiatives in elite football by staging a comprehensive programme of doping controls on all teams and players competing in the EURO final tournament. The combination of pre-tournament and tournament testing, combined with use of the latest laboratory analysis, can have left no room for players to succeed by illegal means. Once again we have a tournament and an anti-doping programme to be proud of."

The success of the programme was also aided by the commitment of players, teams and medical staff to whereabouts, doping control procedures and the anti-doping effort in general. All team medical staff signed an anti-doping charter before the tournament to confirm their commitment to ensuring a drug-free tournament, and all players selected for doping control proved fully cooperative with the process both in and out of competition.