Cooperation agreement signed between the LFF and the Lithuanian Anti-Doping Agency

On Monday, the Lithuanian Football Federation further expanded its circle of partners by officially signing a cooperation agreement with the Lithuanian Anti-Doping Agency.

The agreement was signed by LFF President 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 formalise its cooperation.

The issues of cooperation concern not only anti-doping and education, but also possible manipulation of sports matches, which is a particular focus of the Lithuanian Football Federation.

"We are the first sports federation in Lithuania to sign an official agreement with the Anti-Doping Agency, although this cooperation has certainly been started before - we had a seminar on anti-doping before the season, the players had a prevention course, and another topical issue is the topic of possible match fixing.

The Anti-Doping Agency certainly has a lot of resources and is paying more and more attention to this, so this cooperation is inevitable. This includes the exchange of experiences and scenarios for possible match fixing. Every such partner alongside us is a reinforcement in the fight against this malignant cancer of ours," said Mr Stankevičius about the new partner.
The head of the Anti-Doping Agency, R. Banytė, agreed.

"The Lithuanian Anti-Doping Agency is very pleased to sign this agreement with the first sports federation in Lithuania, which will not only be a legal document that legitimises cooperation, but also a moral incentive to promote the principles of clean sport, both in terms of doping and manipulation of sports competitions.

We already have a tradition and experience in education and testing, and as far as the manipulation of sports competitions is concerned, we will provide all the necessary assistance to the extent that the Federation needs it and the Federation will help us.

If doping rules are more regulated, manipulation of sport competitions is not, so in the past it was done with the good will and willingness of the federations, so such an agreement, which formalises the cooperation, is an important step," said Banytė after the signing of the agreement.

E. According to Stankevičius, the formalised cooperation will benefit all parties concerned and will further contribute to the fight against the problem of match-fixing.

"When the Lithuanian Anti-Doping Agency came into being, when it started to pay more and more attention to the issue of match-fixing, it was natural that this cooperation became even closer.

We have had more meetings, we have had a number of conversations and we have received good ideas from the agency on what could be improved in our daily work to fight this weed, and there is also a great willingness on our part to exchange information, to react to this manipulation in sport.

I think that other sports federations will follow our example, I think that there are problems in other sports as well, not only in football, so I think it is inevitable and such agreements will become more and more common", - said E. Stankevičius.