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New User Pays Fund supports athletes and NSOs

24 Nov 2021

User Pays Fund supports athletes and NSOs

Triathlon Image credit -  Tri Taranaki Festival / ScottieTPhoto

Drug Free Sport New Zealand (DFSNZ) has established a User Pays Fund to help athletes and national sporting organisations (NSOs) with some of the hidden costs involved in world record attempts and international competitions.

The Fund covers 50% of sample collection and testing costs for Kiwi NSOs hosting international competitions and 75% of the testing costs for athletes attempting to set records on home soil.

“We’re committed to leading a culture of clean sport here in Aotearoa New Zealand” said DFSNZ Chief Executive Nick Paterson. “The User Pays Fund allows us to support athletes making the record books and sports bringing clean international competitions to home ground. We’ve had positive feedback from NSOs on this Fund, and we’re excited to see it support clean competition across the country.”

International Federations (IF) require drug testing or DFSNZ presence as part of the NSO’s contractual obligations for hosting international sporting events and to verify record attempts. DFSNZ undertakes this work on top of its normal testing programme and, rather than seeking to make a profit, offers it at-cost to the NSO or athlete. The first sport to benefit from the Fund will be Triathlon New Zealand.

"We are so incredibly appreciative to be a recipient of the new DFSNZ testing funding,” said Triathlon NZ Chief Executive Claire Beard. “This support will be utilised for our International Triathlon events taking place in March next year. We share DFSNZ’s commitment to keeping sport clean and applaud their commitment to making testing accessible to national sports organisations and athletes. With testing costs increasing, along with the impacts of COVID, this support will ensure we can support clean sport and deliver two successful international events next year that provide exciting opportunities for our athletes."

Find out more or make an application at drugfreesport.org.nz/userpays

Image credit: Tri Taranaki / ScottieTPhoto