United Kingdom – Doping Statistics, Sports and Substances

The Anti-Doping Database contains verified anti-doping rule violations registered for United Kingdom. This country profile provides aggregated statistics across sports, substances, testing types and sanction lengths, including trends over time and active sanctions.

In United Kingdom, the sport with the highest number of anti-doping rule violations is Rugby, while the most frequently detected substance is Benzoylecgonine. The average suspension length for sanctioned athletes is 16 months.

In United Kingdom, 28% of the anti-doping rule violations in the database come from out-of-competition testing, while 72% are from in-competition tests.

The data below is generated dynamically from disciplinary decisions, published testing programs and official anti-doping authority reports. No individual athlete information is displayed on this page; the focus is entirely on high-level patterns and long-term trends.

Number of cases in United Kingdom Last 10 Years

Sport Resolutions UK


Global Ranking

United Kingdom ranks #8 of 184 countries in the Anti-Doping Database.

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About This Ranking

The ranking above shows how United Kingdom compares to other countries in the Anti-Doping Database based on registered anti-doping rule violations.

Important: The Anti-Doping Database relies exclusively on open sources. Some countries do not publish the names of sanctioned athletes, and we are therefore unable to register doping cases from these countries as we have no athlete name or other identifying information. This ranking reflects only cases available in public records.
Top Five sports with the most doping cases for United Kingdom
Substance use in United Kingdom
Most Detected Substance
United Kingdom
Benzoylecgonine
Cases: 32
% of total: 7.4%
Category: Stimulants
Purpose: Increases alertness, reduces fatigue, and enhances reaction times, but can also elevate heart risks.

Benzoylecgonine is a metabolite of cocaine. This metabolite of cocaine was first referenced in WADA documents in 2004 as a target for detection.

In-competition vs Out-of-competition cases (last five years)
Key Insight

The balance between In-Competition and Out-of-Competition testing reveals the maturity of a country's anti-doping program.

A higher proportion of OOC tests typically indicates a more proactive approach to deterring doping during training periods.

Recent anti-doping activity in United Kingdom

This profile shows aggregated anti-doping rule violation data for United Kingdom, including trends over time, most affected sports, substance patterns and active sanctions. Detailed case information is available to registered users inside the Anti-Doping Database.

Number of Active Sanctions Ending Year for United Kingdom
Gender Distribution
Male 95.5%
401 cases
Female 4.5%
19 cases
Analysis: United Kingdom has a notably higher proportion of male cases (95.5%) compared to the global average (80.2%), a difference of 15.3 percentage points. Global average: 80.2% male, 19.8% female

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The Anti-Doping Database currently contains 14,914 verified anti-doping rule violations across all sports and all countries, and is updated regularly.