German FA to go for stringent drug testing measures

Berlin: The German Football Association (DFB) say they plan to strengthen the fight against doping from next season by doubling the amount of blood tests. "In addition to urine tests, we will also be performing blood tests," DFB vice-president Rainer Koch told radio station HR on Wednesday night. This season, 15 percent of all doping checks involved blood tests by Germany`s National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) and Koch says they plan to roughly double the amount of blood testing after matches. In the last 12 months, there have been 2,300 doping tests carried out by NADA in German professional fooballer, who test during training times, and the DFB, who test during competitions. Koch said the higher levels of testing will be implemented in close cooperation with NADA with a budgetary increase of 800,000 euros (US$1.1m). The DFB is reacting after FIFA`s chief doctor Jiri Dvorak criticised the level of doping in Germany`s professional game last year. "If you`re going to do it, then do it right," he said at the time. "Ideally, all Bundesliga players should be tested at the start of the season, so you have a basis against which to test results."