UAE athletes may now donate blood as global restrictions ease

Starting January 1, 2025, UAE athletes will be allowed to donate blood or other blood components as the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) eased some restrictions in its latest guidelines.

Wada — an international agency that leads the global movement for doping-free sport — recently released its 2025 list of restrictions and prohibited substances.

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The UAE's National Anti-Doping Agency (Nada) announced that athletes in the country will soon be able to check out these guidelines.

Nada on Thursday pointed out some of the major changes that Wada introduced.

The new guidelines no longer prohibits the donation of blood or other blood components as long as the process is conducted at an accredited collection centre within an authorised healthcare facility in the country, Nada said.

Previously, blood donation is not allowed because the process could be linked to 'blood doping' — where blood is artificially boosted to improve an athlete's performance. During blood donation, some components such as red blood cells could be removed and reintroduced back into the body; and this process was the reason it was restricted.

Now, the process has been allowed provided that it is done only for donation purposes, according to the Wada guidelines, as explained by the US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada).

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