Sports Specific Forms - If you are applying for a Therapeutic Use Exemption from your International Federation (IF), they may have a specific application form that you are required to complete and information requirements you must fulfil.  Additionally some sports may provide their own version of the TUE forms. 

Key Steps to completing your TUE application

1.      Obtain the correct TUE application form from your NGB or log on to www.100percentme.co.uk

2.      Complete all sections of the TUE application form

Note: Incomplete or illegible applications will not be approved and will be returned to the athlete

3.      Ensure the prescribing physician has read and signed the Medical Practitioner’s Declaration

4.      Read and sign the Athlete Declaration

Note: Minors must seek signed parental/guardian consent           

5.      Send the application to the correct authorising body as soon as possible and no later than 21 days in advance of any event

Where to send your TUE application will depend upon 2 key criteria:

1. The level at which you compete - For the majority of sports, if you are an athlete that competes at the international level then you will be required to submit your TUE application to the IF of your sport. If you are a national or domestic level athlete then this should be submitted to UK Sport;

NOTE: Competing internationally is not always the same as competing at an International Level.  For further information regarding the levels of competition within your sport please contact your NGB.

2. Your Sport - Your specific sport may impose different requirements on where you send a TUE application.  You should contact your NGB or UK Sport for further information.

An athlete should never assume that by submitting a TUE application it will be granted automatically.  Any use or possession of a Prohibited Substance or Method before an application has been granted shall be entirely at the athlete's own risk.

The review process for Abbreviated TUE and Standard TUE applications is not the same.

The criteria apply to all Athletes as defined by and subject to the WADC i.e. able-bodied athletes and athletes with disabilities.

This standard will be applied according to an individual’s circumstances. For example, an exemption that is appropriate for an athlete with a disability may be inappropriate for other athletes.

1.      The athlete should submit an application for a TUE no less than 21 days before participating in an event

2.      The athlete would experience a significant impairment to health if the Prohibited Substance or Method were to be withheld in the course of treating an acute or chronic medical condition

3.      The therapeutic use of the Prohibited Substance or Method would produce no additional enhancement of performance other than that which might be anticipated by a return to a state of normal health following the treatment of a legitimate medical condition. The use of any Prohibited Substance or Method to increase ‘low-normal’ levels of any endogenous hormone is not considered an acceptable therapeutic intervention

4.      There is no reasonable therapeutic alternative to the use of the otherwise Prohibited Substance or Method

5.      The necessity for the use of the otherwise Prohibited Substance or Method cannot be a consequence, wholly or in part, of prior non-therapeutic use of any substance from the Prohibited List

The role of WADA (The World Anti-Doping Agency) in the TUE process is twofold.  Firstly, WADA, through its Therapeutic Use Exemption Committee (TUEC), has the right to monitor and review any decision.  Secondly, an athlete who submits a TUE application to an Anti-Doping Organisation and is denied a TUE, can appeal the decision to the WADA TUEC.  If WADA determines that the denial of the TUE did not comply with the International Standard, WADA may reverse the decision.