Athletes who retire from competitive sport must promptly inform BADC, their respective sport federation and their International Federation (IF) in writing via email or hard copy letter. If an athlete sends the retirement statement via email, the retirement statement must come from an email address that the athlete has on file with BADC. Any athlete who has not provided advance written notice of retirement to BADC and then refuses to participate in a BADC out-of-competition (OOC) test claiming retirement may be subject to an Anti-Doping Rule Violation.
Athletes who retire will be immediately removed from the BADC testing pool and will no longer have to comply with certain athlete requirements, such as providing Whereabouts information. To confirm retirement, an athlete will receive a retirement letter from BADC stating the date of retirement, withdrawal from retirement information, and return from retirement options, should an athlete wish to return to competition at a later date.
If an athlete retires while serving a sanction, their period of ineligibility will be tolled and resumed upon their return from retirement if applicable.
WADA Standard On Athletes Returning To Competition
7. 5.7 Retired Athletes Returning to Competition
5.7.1 if an International- or national-level athlete in a registered testing Pool retires and then wishes to return to active participation in sport, the athlete shall not compete in International events or national events until the athlete has made himself or herself available for testing, by giving six months prior written notice to his or her international Federation and national anti-doping organization. Wada, in consultation with the relevant international Federation and national anti-doping organization, may grant an exemption to the six-month written notice rule where the strict application of that rule would be manifestly unfair to an athlete. This decision may be appealed under Article 13.
5.7.1.1 Any competitive results obtained in violation of Article 5.7.1 shall be disqualified.
5.7.2 if an athlete retires from sport while subject to a period of Ineligibility and then wishes to return to active competition in sport, the athlete shall not compete in International events or national events until the athlete has made himself or herself available for testing by giving six months prior written notice (or notice equivalent to the period of Ineligibility remaining as of the date the athlete retired, if that period was longer than six months) to his or her international Federation and national anti-doping organization.