Stakeholders’ perspectives on the effectiveness of the Chinese anti-doping education policy

ABSTRACT

The significance of anti-doping education in competitive sports is paramount, necessitating athletes and coaches to possess an in-depth understanding of doping prevention strategies. However, information on the Chinese context is limited, prompting a comprehensive examination of the nation’s anti-doping education system. This study explored the experiences of 45 stakeholders involved in Chinese anti-doping education via in-depth interviews and provides a critical analysis of the system’s target audience, delivery methods, timing, and content. The study developed an anti-doping education policy implementation model, assessing its efficacy within the Chinese context. The model posits that while China has made significant strides in addressing key factors of anti-doping education, improvements are still required. Notably, broadening the selection of target groups, enhancing awareness-raising efforts, and establishing comprehensive plans for anti-doping education throughout an athlete’s lifecycle are crucial. Additionally, clear timelines for these initiatives and an optimised anti-doping policy evaluation process, involving increased collaboration with academic institutions and scholar participation in research, are recommended. These findings underline the importance of a continuous and context-specific refinement of China’s anti-doping education strategies, aligning with the evolving needs of stakeholders and the broader demands of the sporting ecosystem.

KEYWORDS:

• CHINADA
• anti-doping education policy
• governance
• point-based system
• International Standard for Education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. CHINADA is still supervised and guided by China’s General Administration of Sport and central government (Yang et al. 2022).

2. A total of seven interviewees were interviewed following the implementation of the ISE, specifically: 1.2, 1.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.17, 4.1, and 4.4.

3. This article combines the results and discussion sections for improved coherence. Given the large number of interviewees, it is impossible to quote all opinions directly. Furthermore, given the similarities in the views shared by the interviewees, many of the comments and conclusions have been summarised for brevity.

4. This group includes athletes in the ‘Registered Testing Pool’ (RTP), but it is important to note that not all ‘registered athletes’ are part of the RTP, which mainly involves elite competitors.

5. In China, a sports school refers to a specialised institution that delivers comprehensive sports training primarily to children and young athletes. These schools offer a curriculum blending academic instruction with intensive athletic training, the latter taking precedence. They are systematically run and organised, akin to professional institutions, but not ‘professional’ in the sense typically associated with for-profit sports organisations. Managed predominantly by the Chinese government, the aim of these schools is to identify and nurture young talent in order to cultivate high-performing athletes for national and international sporting events (Hong 2004).

6. In the policy stages model or policy cycle model, each stage in the policy process can be treated as a series of political activities, which include the following four factors: (1) problem definition and agenda-setting, (2) policy formulation and adoption, (3) implementation, and (4) evaluation (Knill and Tosun 2012). The present research focuses only on the last three stages.

Additional information

Funding

Sichuan University: the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.