**3.1 Doping and law**

The first bans on the use of substances capable of exceeding the natural limits [17] of the human body were banned only from 1920: from that date on, due to the progressive spectacularization of sports performance, be it single or collective. Only between the '40s and the '70s of the previous century was created an organism (AMA-WADA: Agence Mondiale Antidopage - World Anti-doping Agency) aimed at carrying out scientific research and controls to combat doping in the sports world.

The main objective of the AMA-WADA is to promote and coordinate worldwide the fight against doping in sport in all its forms (art.4) in order to support ethical principles for the practice of doping-free sport and to contribute to the protection of the health of athletes (Art. 4 co.2) [18].

Internationally protected and regulated core values are:


The main features of the World Anti-doping Programme are:

1.The same Code;

2.International Standards;

3.Good practice models and guidelines [19].

The intrinsic value that animates and pervades this document is the pursuit of human excellence through the perfection of natural talents that each subject possesses. It is a principle that has some declinations, such as: ethics, fair play and honesty, health, excellence in sports performance, fun and joy, teamwork, compliance with rules and laws, respect for oneself and the other participants, courage, group spirit and solidarity. The use of doping is contrary to all the principles mentioned above [20].

The same Code also contains a definition of doping: the violation of one or more of the rules of the Code among those contained in art. 2 from paragraph 1 to paragraph 1; art. 2 co.1 stresses that the presence of a prohibited substance, or of its metabolites or markers in the sample provided by a sportsman, is considered a violation of the anti-doping rules; the violation is independent of intention, the error, negligence or conscious use of the substance. There is therefore an objective responsibility of the athlete who must ensure that no substance among those prohibited is present within his body [21].

This objective responsibility of the athlete is mitigated if it is not relevant the existence of the prohibited substance but a quantity of it or if it can be demonstrated that a certain substance has been produced by the organism endogenously [22]. In such cases, the responsibility of the athlete appears to be subject to further investigation consisting in the exact determination of the prohibited substance or the determination that the substance was produced endogenously by the organism.

Finally, art. 4 co.4 contains a hypothesis of non-existence of responsibility if a specific authorization for the use of the prohibited substance is found: it is an authorisation for therapeutic purposes in favor of the athlete which has been issued in accordance with procedural rules contained in international standards.

#### **3.2 Doping and sport ethics**

The reflection of the practice of doping within sport [23, 24] has not only a legal but also an ethical aspect. When a definition of doping is approached, reference is made to regulatory requirements or an attempt is made to reach a clear and unambiguous definition.

The problem is that doping is not a theoretical and abstract concept but is closer to the definition of Greek pharmakon [25], ie poison and antidote, good and evil at the same time. Consequently, if we do not have a clear distinction for drugs, we cannot look for a legal framework to establish ex ante what doping is because the problem of doping in sport is the result of ethical and political influences [26].

The logical consequence of this is that the answers sought, be they philosophical, political, sociological, medical and legal, are qualified as mere rhetorical experiments insufficient to understand this practice. The understanding of the practice of doping depends, in fact, not only on the impossibility of adopting an objective and exhaustive definition but also on the circumstance under which it is a cultural construction in continuous mutation.

#### *Human Empowerment between Ethics and Law DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96724*

Ultimately, doping is defined as undecidable, that is, a concept whose definition is always under construction and training and whose meaning is increased on the basis of binary opposition: good or evil, admitted or forbidden, for example.

The beating heart of the problem is that doping is going beyond any limit that is placed: it becomes the tool to extend natural limits, to overcome human potential but also to go beyond the limits set by the rules that govern it. It is therefore clear that doping is essentially a cultural problem because it requires reflection and distinction between natural and artificial [27].

A further consideration is the distinction between two aspects of doping: the hemical and the ethical. The first refers to the personal point of view, the second concerns the values existing in society. The hemi-point of view makes athletes argue the need to take doping substances while the ethical perspective imposes as necessary the condemnation of doping. Part of the doctrine also argued that the regulation of doping in sport has become maniacal as if the aim was to seek and then find in sport forms of disease, of corruption, of ethical degeneration forgetting the neuralgic aspect of sport, that is, the playful dimension.

The latter is the great absent because very often sports competitions can be defined as "zero sum game": the victory is interpreted as a definitive and irreparable achievement by the winner. It is clear that it appears to be extremely contrasting with the pedagogical function of sport which qualifies sport as a confrontation between peers who are confronted to highlight their skills and to deserve a prize that derives not only from the value that has been but also by respecting the rules that govern that specific activity.

Also from an ethical and philosophical perspective, similarities between sport and doping have been found: Practicing sports involves exceeding a limit and provides a feeling of pleasure to people as exercise releases endorphins that cause a feeling of pleasure and are substances similar to morphine and opium.

By adhering to this reconstruction the same sport can be defined doping place that the first one meets all the requirements to determine the overcoming of human limits; to pursue this objective means are used, tools and practices needed to increase physical effectiveness. It therefore emerges that overcoming oneself is one of the peculiar characteristics of both sport and drugs in general [28].

In conclusion, it can be said that sport behaves like a form of doping and drugs for the following reasons:

