Doping is serious, and its consequences are far-reaching. It can permanently damage your reputation, your health and your prospects in and out of sport. 

Anyone signed up to a sports organisation that abides by the Sports Anti-Doping Rules can be sanctioned for doping. There are 11 ways to break the Rules - the Anti-Doping Rule Violations. They all apply to athletes, and seven of them apply to coaches and support personnel. 

A sanction for doping can mean: 

• Ban. A ban from all sport – including competing, training and coaching. Learn more below; 

• Disqualification. You and your team are stripped of event results, points, prizes and accolades; 

• Public scrutiny. Publication of your rule violation, which may result in damaging media attention and public contempt. 

The implications of a sanction are broad. Any perceived short-term gain from doping is never worth the long-term consequences, which can impact many different parts of your life:

• Career. A sanction can end your professional aspirations. The damage to your reputation may make it hard to find a place on a team or opportunities for coaching. 

• Relationships. The pressure of a sanction can damage your relationships with teammates, peers and close whānau. Being unable to play sport may leave you feeling isolated. 

• Finances. You may lose sponsorship opportunities, contracts or other funding, or face financial sanctions. 

• Health. The health consequences of taking performance-enhancing substances can be serious and irreversible. 

Sanctioned athletes are banned from taking part in sport in any capacity, including as:

• an athlete

• a coach

• an official

• an employee

• a volunteer

Sanctioned athletes can't take part in (in New Zealand or overseas):

• any sport that has agreed to the Sports Anti-Doping Rules (the Rules);

• an event where the Rules apply (for example, an event run under the rules of a national sport organisation that has agreed to the Rules);

• any professional sport leagues (regardless of whether it has agreed to the Rules);

• international or national level events (including, for example, the NZ or World Masters Games); or

• any elite or national-level sporting activity that receives funding from a government agency (including, for example, funding from Sport NZ, High Performance Sport NZ, or the NZ Lotteries Commission).

Also, sanctioned athletes can't coach someone who is bound by the Rules.

Sanctioned athletes can:

• take part in sports that have not agreed to the Rules

• take part in events/competitions where the Rules don't apply

• be tested at any time during your ban.