During the annual FEI Veterinary Meetings 2007, which were held at the gracious invitation of the FEI President in Dubai, an anti-doping workshop was organised by the UAE National Federation. The FEI had expressed some concern in 2005 regarding the number of positive test results coming from the Endurance discipline and it was felt that a better communication could be beneficial. Although the testing figures from 2006 showed an improvement already, it was the opinion of all involved that such a workshop would be welcomed and useful in the region.

The Workshop was organized for riders, trainers, veterinarians and other interested parties. During the day, a variety of all issues relating to medication control and its follow up was presented. Speakers were: Michael Stone (FEI: introduction), Dr. Frits Sluyter (FEI: the scope of the problem, reasons for positives), Ian Williams (FEI: rules around competition and testing), Dr. Jim Bryant (UAE: medication issues that should be better managed), Dr Frans Delbeke (BEL: the screening procedure in the laboratory) and Alex McLin (FEI: the legal follow up of a positive test result).

The Workshop turned out to be a very informative session, where an effort had been made to explain all related issues at a level that could be well understood by all present. The aim of highlighting all relevant matters for medication control was reached in the opinion of the participants. The FEI President, HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, also actively participated in the meeting and in the subsequent forum discussion.

Several voices from the public praised the transparent framework of the Workshop and stressed the fact that such a meeting could possibly be brought to other FEI member countries.