Signed cooperation agreement between LFF and the Lithuanian Anti-Doping Agency

2024-06-02 12:00 © lff.lt

On Monday, the Lithuanian Football Federation further expanded its circle of partners - an official cooperation agreement was signed with the Lithuanian Anti-Doping Agency.

The agreement was signed by President of the LFF Edgaras Stankevičius and Director of the Lithuanian Anti-Doping Agency Rūta Banytė. Thus, the Lithuanian Football Federation became the first sports federation in Lithuania to sign an official agreement with the agency and legally formalize their cooperation.

Cooperation issues involve not only doping and education, but also possible manipulations in sports competitions, to which the Lithuanian Football Federation pays special attention.

"We are the first sports federation in Lithuania to sign an official agreement with the anti-doping agency, although this collaboration has already begun earlier - before the season we had a seminar on doping, players had preventive courses, and the other relevant topic - the issue of possibly fixed matches," said E. Stankevičius about the new partner.

The Director of the Anti-Doping Agency, R. Banytė, also agreed with him.

"The Lithuanian Anti-Doping Agency is very pleased to sign this agreement with the first sports federation in Lithuania, and it will not only be a legal document formalizing cooperation, but also a moral incentive for promoting the principles of fair play in sports - both in doping and in manipulations of sports competitions.

We already have a tradition and experience in the areas of education and testing, and when it comes to manipulation in sports competitions, we will provide all the necessary assistance as much as the federation needs, and the federation will help us.

If doping rules are more regulated, manipulation of sports competitions - no, so it used to be done voluntarily and by the will of federations, so such an agreement, in which cooperation is officially legalized, is an important step," shared thoughts after signing the contract by R. Banytė.

According to E. Stankevičius, officially formalized cooperation will benefit all interested parties and will further contribute to the fight against the problem of possibly fixed matches.

"When the Lithuanian Anti-Doping Agency appeared, when it began to pay more attention to the issue of fixed matches, it was natural that cooperation became even closer.

There were more meetings, we had not only one conversation and from the agency's side, we received good ideas on what could be improved in our daily activities in fighting against this weed, similarly, from our side, there is a great desire to exchange information, to react to those manipulations in sports.

I think that other sports federations will follow our example, I think that this issue exists in other sports, not just football, so I believe that it is inevitable and such agreements will become more common," said E. Stankevičius.