Agency representatives at an international seminar on the implementation of the Macaolino Convention
2025-03-27
What can we do to ensure that the battle against manipulation in sport is not just a battle against windmills?
2025-05-05
The Lithuanian Anti-Doping Agency (LADA) and the Lithuanian Basketball Federation (LKF) have signed an agreement on cooperation in the areas of prevention and control of doping and prevention of manipulation of sports competitions.
The agreement defines joint activities between the Agency and the Federation in the areas of information on doping and match-fixing, cooperation in investigations into doping and match-fixing.
Rūta Banytė, Director of the Lithuanian Anti-Doping Agency, says that education is a key objective of the cooperation.
"There are those who mistakenly believe that the main purpose of the Agency's work is to punish, to impose sanctions on those who have committed offences. This is not the case. Our activities are primarily aimed at making the country's sports community aware of the problems and threats of doping and match-fixing. It is very important that not only the state, but also the federations take the initiative to tackle these problems and to protect the integrity of sport. That is why I am very pleased to sign this cooperation agreement with the Lithuanian Basketball Federation," says Banytė.
"The name of Lithuanian basketball is very rarely associated with the problem of fixtures lately, but we must always be prepared. That's why I'm happy to have signed an agreement with the Lithuanian Anti-Doping Agency, which will also help us with anti-doping education and training. Fair competition is one of the fundamental principles of sport and we have to protect it at all times," said LCF President Mindaugas Balčiūnas.
According to the contract, in the event of a case of manipulation, the federation is obliged to share the information it has with the agency, as well as to carry out an initial investigation in order to find out if there is manipulation in the case. If not, the investigation is closed, and if the suspicions are confirmed, other authorities, such as the police, may be involved. Representatives of the Lithuanian Anti-Doping Agency will assist the Federation at all stages of the investigation.
Sportradar, a sports match monitoring agency, recorded 187 suspicious basketball matches worldwide in 2024. Basketball was second only to football in this statistic last year.
The LCF became the 25th sports federation to sign such an agreement with the Lithuanian Anti-Doping Agency.
