In brief
- The National Anti-Doping Agency has published the Prohibited List for 2027, which applies to athletes in Romania from 1 January 2027. It takes over the list of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and replaces the 2026 list, approved by ANAD Order no. 141/2025.
- Six new substances join the list, including two medicines used for heart and kidney disease: eplerenone and finerenone, among the diuretics, followed by the anti-oestrogen imlunestrant, seladelpar and the compounds SLU-PP-332 and SLU-PP-915. Under cannabinoids, the list now names Δ8-THC, Δ10-THC and hexahydrocannabinols (HHC) explicitly, while cannabidiol (CBD) remains permitted.
- Who is affected: athletes, coaches, doctors and other athlete support personnel, sports federations and clubs. The order was published on 6 November 2026 and enters into force on 1 January 2027, so athletes have 56 days to check their treatments.
Published: Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 930 of 6 November 2026, pages 2-7
In force from: 1 January 2027, under Article 2 of the order
The National Anti-Doping Agency (ANAD) has approved the Prohibited List for 2027, the document that sets out which substances and methods athletes may not use, either at all times or only in competition. Order no. 116 of 2 November 2026 of the President of ANAD appeared in the Official Gazette of Romania no. 930 of 6 November 2026 and applies from 1 January 2027, when it replaces the 2026 list. As every year, the text reproduces in Romanian the list adopted by the World Anti-Doping Agency, which Law no. 310/2021 on preventing and combating doping in sport makes binding through Article 27(3).
The structure of the list is the familiar one. Classes S0-S5 (non-approved substances, anabolic agents, peptide hormones, beta-2 agonists, hormone and metabolic modulators, diuretics and masking agents) and methods M1-M3 (manipulation of blood, chemical and physical manipulation of the sample, gene and cell doping) are prohibited at all times. Classes S6-S9 (stimulants, narcotics, cannabinoids, glucocorticoids) are prohibited in competition, and beta-blockers (P1) only in particular sports, such as archery, shooting, golf, darts and motor sport.
The changes are few, but they concern real medicines that are frequently prescribed outside sport as well. The most visible one concerns cannabinoids: products containing HHC or Δ8-THC, sold in recent years as „legal” alternatives to cannabis, are now named in the in-competition prohibited list.
What it changes in practice
From 1 January 2027, a doping control carried out in Romania is assessed against the 2027 list. The presence in an athlete’s sample of a substance on the list constitutes an anti-doping rule violation, unless the athlete holds a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) for that substance, under Article 2(8) of Law no. 310/2021.
- Eplerenone and finerenone join S5, Diuretics and Masking Agents, prohibited at all times. They are medicines used for heart failure, hypertension and kidney disease associated with diabetes. An athlete treated with them needs a TUE out of competition as well, not just on competition days.
- Imlunestrant joins S4.2, and the heading of the class widens to „degradatori ai receptorilor de estrogen (SERD)”, that is, oestrogen receptor degraders. The class is prohibited at all times.
- Seladelpar is added to the PPARδ agonists, while SLU-PP-332, SLU-PP-915 and related substances join the metabolic modulators (S4.4.1). These substances are also prohibited at all times and are non-specified.
- Under cannabinoids (S8), the prohibition covers THC and the synthetic and semi-synthetic cannabinoids that mimic the effects of Δ9-THC. The list gives as examples Δ9-THC from cannabis, Δ8-THC and Δ10-THC, hexahydrocannabinols (HHC), AB-FUBINACA and 5F-ADB. The note at the end of the class states expressly that „Canabidiolul (CBD) nu este interzis”, meaning cannabidiol (CBD) is not prohibited.
- Substances of abuse (cocaine, heroin, MDMA and THC) now also cover their metabolites, „dacă prezența acestora este compatibilă cu utilizarea unei substanțe de abuz”, that is, where their presence is consistent with the use of a substance of abuse. This matters for how the violation is classified, because Article 27(2) of Law no. 310/2021 links the sanctions regime to this classification.
- Vaginal glucocorticoids join the permitted routes of administration, alongside inhalation and dental, dermal, nasal, ophthalmic, otic and perianal application, provided the doses and indications approved by the manufacturer are respected.
The quantitative thresholds do not change: inhaled salbutamol remains capped at 1,600 micrograms over 24 hours, formoterol at 54 micrograms, salmeterol at 200 and vilanterol at 25, while the urinary thresholds remain 1,000 ng/mL for salbutamol, 40 ng/mL for formoterol, 5 micrograms per millilitre for cathine, 10 for ephedrine and methylephedrine and 150 for pseudoephedrine. Intravenous infusions remain limited to 100 mL per 12-hour period, except for those legitimately received in the course of hospital treatment and clinical investigations.
What has changed compared with the previous situation
Compared with the 2026 list, published in the Official Gazette of Romania no. 985 of 24 October 2025, no substance has been removed. The substantive differences are these:
- added: eplerenone and finerenone (S5), imlunestrant (S4.2), seladelpar, SLU-PP-332 and SLU-PP-915 (S4.4.1);
- reworded: class S8, which stated that „sunt interzise toate canabinoidele naturale și sintetice” (all natural and synthetic cannabinoids are prohibited) and listed cannabidiol among the exceptions, and the definition of substances of abuse, which now includes metabolites;
- widened: the permitted routes for glucocorticoids, with vaginal administration;
- corrected: the Romanian version of the 2026 list read „amoxifen” under S4.2, while the 2027 list correctly reads „tamoxifen”.
The Monitoring Program stays the same: bupropion, caffeine, nicotine, phenylephrine, phenylpropanolamine, pipradrol and synephrine are tracked in samples but are not prohibited. The order repeals ANAD Order no. 141/2025 on 1 January 2027, the date on which it enters into force.
Advantages and disadvantages
What it improves
- Products containing HHC and Δ8-THC can no longer be defended on the argument that they are not „THC”: the list names them explicitly.
- The express statement that CBD is not prohibited settles a question often raised in doctors’ surgeries and in clubs.
- The list appears 56 days before it applies, so athletes and doctors can change treatment or apply for a TUE in good time.
- The „amoxifen” error in the 2026 list has been corrected.
What remains a problem
- Article 1 of the order approves „Lista interzisă pentru anul 2026”, the Prohibited List for the current year, although the title and the annex concern 2027.
- The order does not say what has changed compared with the previous list; the differences emerge only from an entry-by-entry comparison between two issues of the Official Gazette of Romania (Monitorul Oficial).
- The preparation period is 13 days shorter than last year, when the 2026 list appeared 69 days before it applied.
- Eplerenone and finerenone are prescribed by cardiologists and nephrologists who do not think about doping, and the order comes with no information for them.
Practical advice
- If you take eplerenone, finerenone, imlunestrant or seladelpar, talk to your doctor before 1 January 2027: either change the treatment or apply to ANAD for a therapeutic use exemption. These substances are also prohibited out of competition.
- Do not use products containing HHC, Δ8-THC or Δ10-THC, however they are labelled. CBD oils are permitted, but check that the product contains no THC, because THC remains prohibited in competition.
- Ask your family doctor and pharmacist to check any new medicine against the 2027 list.
- Federations and clubs can send their registered athletes the list of the six new substances, so that they do not find out about them at their first control.
- If you already hold a therapeutic use exemption, check whether the substance and its dose are the same in the new list; the thresholds for beta-2 agonists have not changed.
- For interpretation, the reference text of the list remains the WADA English version, which prevails in the event of a conflict between versions, according to the introduction to the list.
Frequently asked questions
When does the 2027 Prohibited List apply?
Is CBD prohibited for athletes?
Which new medicines appear on the list?
I am being treated with a medicine on the list. What should I do?
Have the permitted doses of asthma medicines changed?
Are caffeine and nicotine prohibited?
Errors and inconsistencies in the published text
- Article 1 of the order. The only provision approving the list states that what is approved is „Lista interzisă pentru anul 2026, prevăzută în anexa care face parte integrantă din prezentul ordin”, that is, the Prohibited List for the current year, set out in the annex forming an integral part of the order. The title of the order, the approval report cited in the preamble and the annex („pentru anul 2027”; „Lista va intra în vigoare la 1 ianuarie 2027”, the date on which the list enters into force) all concern 2027, and Article 3 repeals the very order that had approved the 2026 list. The wording of Article 1 is identical, word for word, to Article 1 of ANAD Order no. 141/2025. Read literally, the order approves a list for a year that has ended and starts to produce effects after that year is over; the year identifies the period in which the list applies, so the approval should have named 2027.
Editorial analysis
In substance, the order achieves its purpose: it takes over the WADA list, publishes it in the Official Gazette of Romania before 1 January and makes it enforceable against athletes in Romania, as required by Article 27(3) of Law no. 310/2021. The quantitative thresholds are identical to those of 2026, and the correction of „amoxifen” shows that the translation was reread, at least in part. The problem lies in the part written by ANAD, not in the part taken over from WADA: Article 1 was copied from last year’s order without the year being updated. In a field where the defence before disciplinary panels looks for any formal defect, the only rule approving the list should not name a year other than the one in which it applies.
The timeline points to an internal delay. Last year, three days passed between the approval report (17 October 2025) and the signing of the order (20 October 2025); this year, fourteen days passed between the report of 19 October 2026 and the signing on 2 November 2026. Publication followed four days later, as in 2025. The result: athletes get 56 days to adapt, compared with 69 days a year earlier, and the 13 days lost were used up entirely within ANAD’s internal circuit.
The list does not say what is new. Anyone who wants to find out has to set two issues of the Official Gazette of Romania side by side and compare several hundred chemical names. That is how it emerges that six substances have been added, two of which, eplerenone and finerenone, are heart and kidney medicines in everyday use, prescribed by doctors who do not think about doping when they treat a patient who also takes part in competitive sport.
What should be changed
- A correction of Article 1 before 1 January 2027. A correction published in the Official Gazette of Romania, with „anul 2027” in place of „anul 2026”, would close off any formal argument in the doping cases of 2027.
- An annex or a note setting out the changes from the previous list. WADA publishes a summary of modifications alongside the list; carried over into Romanian, it would show athletes and doctors, in a few lines, the six new substances and the two rewordings, instead of a six-page comparison.
- Signing the order within a few days of the approval report, as in 2025. The 13 days recovered would go straight into the period in which athletes change their treatment or apply for an exemption.
- Informing the College of Physicians and pharmacists about the commonly used medicines that are newly prohibited. A doctor prescribing eplerenone to an athlete could advise them to apply for an exemption before their first control.
- A terminology check of the translation by a pharmacologist. The „amoxifen” in the 2026 list stayed in the Official Gazette of Romania for a year; a specialist review would catch such errors before publication, in a text on which sanctions are based.
Original text of the legal act
The text below is reproduced in Romanian, the official form of publication.
The full text, as published in the Official Gazette of Romania
Official Gazette of Romania no. 930 of 6 November 2026, pages 2-7 16 pages PDF, 128 KB the act starts on page 2
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