Sports Doping Defense Lawyers

Sports doping is a relatively new criminal offence introduced into the Spanish Criminal Code by Organic Law 7/2006 and refined by Organic Law 4/2010, today located in Article 362 quinquies CP within Chapter III of Title XVII on public-health offences. The protected legal interest is twofold: on the one hand, the physical integrity of the athlete exposed to harmful substances; on the other, the integrity of sporting competition as a culturally and economically relevant public-interest activity. The provision punishes whoever, without therapeutic justification, "prescribes, provides, dispenses, supplies, administers, offers or facilitates" to federated competitive, non-competitive or amateur athletes substances or methods not regulatorily allowed aimed at enhancing physical capacities or altering competition results. Supreme Court case-law stresses that the consuming athlete is not an active subject: only those who supply the substance are.

The methods of commission cover the entire doping-support chain. Criminally punishable conducts include prescription by sports physicians (convictions of cycling medical teams in Operación Puerto and later cases are the benchmark), dispensation by a pharmacist aware of the doping purpose, supply by physical trainers or coaches, direct administration by healthcare personnel, and offering or facilitation by intermediaries, distributors or specialised websites. The substances and methods covered are listed annually by WADA and transposed into Spanish law by Resolution of the Higher Sports Council: anabolics (testosterone, nandrolone, stanozolol), erythropoietin (EPO), human growth hormone (hGH), beta-2 agonists, masking diuretics, autologous transfusions and, in recent years, gene doping and hormonal modulators. Organic Law 11/2021 on the fight against doping in sport, replacing LO 3/2013, has updated the infringement catalogue and harmonised the framework with the WADA World Anti-Doping Code.

The penalties under Art. 362 quinquies CP are prison from 6 months to 2 years, fine from 6 to 18 months and special disqualification from public office, profession or trade, from 2 to 5 years. The penalty rises to its upper half when an aggravating circumstance applies (supply to a minor under 18, commission within an organisation dedicated to these conducts, use of fraudulent means to introduce substances into competitive sport). Criminal sanction is fully compatible with the sports sanction imposed by the Spanish Agency for Health Protection in Sport (AEPSAD) under LO 11/2021: 2 to 4 years' suspension (with multipliers up to lifetime for recidivism), result disqualification, prize return, federative licence withdrawal and, where applicable, exclusion from public funding. A therapeutic use exemption (AUT/TUE), validly granted before use, excludes both criminal and sports liability for the authorised substance.

The technical defence strategy requires acting simultaneously on three levels. On the criminal level, the most fruitful lines are: (i) absence of intent of the prescribing physician when the substance had a proven therapeutic purpose and the TUE was being processed; (ii) challenge to the chain of custody of biological samples (urine and blood), analysing the ISO 17025 protocols of the accredited laboratory and the WADA Quality Control certificates; (iii) evidentiary nullity of searches, phone tapping or inspections of sports facilities carried out without a reasoned judicial warrant; (iv) atypicality due to insufficient evidence on the doping purpose of the substance, required beyond mere possession. On the administrative-sports level, we articulate appeals before the Administrative Sports Tribunal (TAD) and, where appropriate, the contentious-administrative jurisdiction. On the international level, we file arbitrations before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS/TAS) in Lausanne, the ultimate review forum for sanctions imposed by international federations and WADA.

In current forensic practice we see sustained growth in proceedings in disciplines traditionally outside the anti-doping spotlight: amateur fitness and bodybuilding (SARMs and peptides traded via digital platforms), endurance (amateur cycling, trail running, triathlon), martial arts and esports (use of stimulants and nootropics). The Guardia Civil's Central Operative Unit (UCO) and the Central Intelligence Brigade have intensified investigations into clinics, gyms and online suppliers, and Organic Law 1/2025 on Justice Service Efficiency has modified deadlines and digitalisation. At Alonso Sala we act for sports physicians, coaches, physical trainers, physiotherapists, pharmacists and athletes involved in doping investigations, deploying a coordinated criminal, administrative and sports defence with technical knowledge of WADA protocols, official listings and CAS jurisprudence, essential to avoid both criminal conviction and the sports suspension that ruins a professional career.