The strategic partnership is aimed at enhancing testing coordination and the sharing of information, as well as collaboration for clean sport education.

The ITA’s new arrangement with NADO Italia focuses on "harmonising testing efforts to ensure an effective allocation of resources and intelligence-led programs at both national and international levels", according to an ITA statement.

"The collaboration also supports the exchange of information between the ITA and NADO Italia to the benefit of potential investigations and intelligence-led doping controls in Italy and in regard to Italian athletes.

"Finally, the collaboration also extends to identifying mutual efficiencies and opportunities for capacity building in the area of anti-doping education."

The ITA also led the anti-doping programme at last year's Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing where more than 3,100 samples were collected, approximately half in-and half out-of-competition, from the opening of the Olympic Villages to the Closing Ceremony.

Urine, blood and dried blood spot samples stem from over 2,300 doping controls were conducted on 1,600 athletes, meaning that 55 per cent of the participating athletes were subject to at least one doping control. 

Furthermore, and for the first time in Olympic Games’ history, at least one athlete from each of the 91 participating National Olympic Committees was tested over the course of the Winter Games.

During Beijing 2022, four athletes tested positive - two from Ukraine, one from Spain and one from Iran.

The highest doping case involved teenage figure skater Kamila Valieva, who tested positive on December 25 in 2021 at the Russian Championships but the news did not emerge until exclusively revealed by insidethegames after she had led the Russian Olympic Committee to the gold medal in the team event. 

Benjamin Cohen, director general of the ITA, commented: "The ITA is honoured to partner with NADO Italia as we collectively work towards preserving the principles of clean sport.

“Italy is an important sporting nation and so I am very pleased that together we can strive for more enhanced clean sport efforts for Italian athletes and on the occasion of international sporting events in Italy.

“The Winter Olympic Games are less than three years away from now and so this partnership is all the more important in light of the important work ahead and the collective efforts needed to safeguard the integrity of the Games."

Alessia Di Gianfrancesco, director general of NADO Italia, added: "This agreement with ITA takes on considerable importance by strengthening a collaboration, now official, to guarantee a harmonised, co-ordinated and effective anti-doping system in support of clean athletes."

The ITA has already established bilateral collaboration agreements with over 30 National and Regional Anti-Doping Organisations on all continents.

"The ITA strongly believes that the anti-doping community is able to bring the support of athletes to the next level by working hand-in-hand with all other anti-doping organisations," they said in the statement.

"Consequently, the ITA will continue to welcome to its network any National and Regional Anti-Doping Organisation that wishes to strengthen synergies between national and international level anti-doping programmes."