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Risk groups

All sports are assigned to one of three risk groups, taking into account physiological, empirical and media risk factors. You can find more information on this page.

There are three levels of risk:

  • Risk group A (high doping risk),
  • Risk group B (medium doping risk) and
  • Risk group C (low doping risk).

Which risk group is assigned to which sport/discipline depends on the following factors:

Empirical Data

The evaluation of empirical data reflects the calculated trend is calculated, among other things, through positive cases of a sport/discipline depending on the number of tests and tested athletes.

Physiological Factors

This rating is based primarily on the potential to increase physiological characteristics when using substances or methods on the Prohibited List that have the highest performance-enhancing potential in the individual sport/discipline.

Cultural and Media Factors

The (sports) cultural environment in which athletes move, train and grow up can exert a strong influence on personal attitudes to and use of drugs or banned substances and methods. Likewise, the esteem in which certain sports are held by the general public and the overall public interest in a sport/discipline can have an impact on the behavior and handling of the players with regard to manipulation and doping.


The cultural (sports) environment in which athletes live, train and grew up can have a strong influence on their personal attitude towards and how they deal with medication or prohibited substances and methods. Likewise, the appreciation of certain types of sport by the general public and the overall public interest in a sport/discipline can affect the behavior and handling with regard to manipulation and doping.

Financial Factors

Prize money and salary structure in a sport/discipline can play a significant role in relation to possible doping behaviour. The various sports/disciplines are evaluated in a matrix based on these criteria. In this matrix, the risk criteria are weighted differently and risk points are assigned to each sport/discipline.

An overview of the classification of risk groups can be found here:

Overview risk groups

Important documents

National Anti-Doping Code 2021 (German)

National Anti-Doping Code 2021 (German)

  • 707 KB
Standard for Testing and Investigations (German)

Standard for Testing and Investigations (German)

  • 903 KB
Standard for Results Management / Discipinary Proceedings (German)

Standard for Results Management / Discipinary Proceedings (German)

  • 1 MB