Italian federation may use biological passports

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ROME — The Italian football federation is considering introducing biological passports and surprise tests to combat doping.

Anti-doping is listed as one of the key points for discussion at next week’s federation board meeting.

FIGC anti-doping commission president Pino Capua says a project is already underway, and it could start with Italy’s national team.

The FIGC says that testing is planned this year for 941 professional football matches in Italy, with a total of 2,804 tests — 300 of them EPO and blood tests — at a cost of about (euro)1.5 million ($1.95 million).

FIFA has been running a pilot passport program since the 2011 Club World Cup but only for top FIFA tournaments.

Biological passports map out an athlete’s blood values over time, facilitating recognition of blood doping.

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