'We don't know how much of an issue it is' - Jawad calls to tackle doping at Paralympics

Ali Jawad called on the international sporting community to pay careful attention to the challenges posed by policing doping at the Paralympic Games.

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC)'s anti-doping code is aligned with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and aims to protect the "spirit of sport."

The rapid growth of the Paralympic movement means there is less historical research and data on the prevalence of doping in disability sport, a reality Jawad is keenly aware of.

"We don't really know how much of an issue doping is at the Paralympics," said the powerlifting star.

"The Paralympics are a baby compared to the Olympics, they don't have the resources and that means no study has ever been done that looks at the issue specifically.

"We can't assume there is the same prevalence in the Paralympics as the Olympics, because the number of tests is lower.

"Research needs to zone on what the prevalence rate is in Paralympic sports so we can target test, first and foremost, then create education programmes around high-risk sports.

"A lot of progress has been made since we first started testing Paralympic athletes out of competition, but it will take five or ten years before we have enough data."

Jawad, a two-time Paralympian, calls his engagement with anti-doping a 'hobby.'

He is undergoing a PhD in the subject at the University of Birmingham and is one of 11 members of UK Anti-Doping's Athlete Commission, which aims to ensure that the athlete perspective is included at the heart of anti-doping in the UK.

Jawad won Commonwealth Games bronze medals in 2014 and 2018 with gold won on both occasions by Nigeria's Paul Kehinde. In October 2021, Kehinde was banned for 30 months by the IPC after testing positive for banned substances hydrochlorothiazide and amiloride.

Anger is part of Jawad's response to cheating in his sport.

The 33-year-old battled severe symptoms of Crohn's disease to reach his second Paralympics in Tokyo, the latest in a series of sacrifices to reach the top as a clean athlete.

But he also believes inequalities in the global anti-doping framework cause issues.

"Some countries lack the resources that other nations have, so they need lots of help to try and get a system up and running and improve it," said Jawad.

"We can always point fingers at problem countries but you have to look at their resources.

"Some are quite stretched and it's up to more developed countries to make sure we are giving them as much support as possible for cases in those countries to decrease.

"I don't blame a country, I blame the lack of resources and we should definitely help countries with that.

"However, the rules are the rules and you're responsible for anything that goes into your system so they should absolutely be banned. It can't keep being an excuse of needing more help.

'"There's still a long way to go but we need partnerships between countries to raise the international standard. It's not a perfect system, it's going to evolve and grow and we just have to keep talking really."

Jawad wants all British athletes to be as confident as he is in navigating the WADA Code and, most importantly, raising any evidence of suspicious activity in sport.

"It's important to have a safe environment to share your concerns," he said.

"Informants have historically been afraid of how their information may be used and scared about consequences for themselves. A lot of progress has been made in that area with awareness being raised of UK Anti-Doping's Protect Your Sport initiative, which assures informants that their identity will be kept confidential when coming forward with any information. This is also reflected in UKAD's Whistleblowing Policy, which can be found on its website.

"Athletes can't do it by themselves, we've got a team around us too that see and hear these things.

"It's so important that if anyone sees anything a tiny bit suspicious, to report it and make sure that organisations, like UK Anti-Doping, have the information they need to be able to investigate and subsequently remove cheats from sport.

"Reporting concerns of doping via the Protect Your Sport initiative is one of the most important things we can do to catch individuals and teams in suspicious activities."