WADA LAUNCHES ITS NEW ATHLETE CENTRAL WHEREABOUTS APP

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is pleased to announce that as of today, Athlete Central, the Agency’s new App that facilitates athlete compliance with Whereabouts rules under the global anti-doping program, is available for use and download from the Apple Store and Google Play. Athlete Central, which is powered by WADA’s Anti-Doping Administration & Management System (ADAMS), replaces WADA’s current App that has been operational for a few years and required modernizing.

Whereabouts rules, which are a key component of global sport’s crucial out-of-competition testing programs, are part of the International Standard for Testing and Investigations. The rules require a limited number of top-level athletes within a Registered Testing Pool (RTP) to provide their Anti-Doping Organization (ADO) with details of where they can be found for one hour every day.

WADA Director General, Olivier Niggli, said: “We are very pleased that WADA’s launch of Athlete Central will dramatically improve and facilitate the athlete experience in complying with their Whereabouts requirements. The new app will allow WADA and ADOs to better support clean athletes, who want to be able to compete on a level playing field. Since the inception of Whereabouts rules, these rules have been modified and improved to make them more user-friendly and less intrusive while retaining their impact. Today, we can proudly say that we have gone one step further in WADA’s mission to lead a collaborative worldwide movement for doping free sport.”

To better understand the needs of its key beneficiaries – the athletes, Athlete Central was developed taking careful consideration of their feedback. WADA’s project team solicited athletes’ views actively and received 2,500 unique submissions that then shaped the App’s specifications. In addition, in the lead-up to today’s launch, some ADO staff tested the App and a significant number of active athletes have been trialing it to file their Whereabouts. WADA also provided a demo of Athlete Central to interested athletes and other participants of the Agency’s Fifth World Conference on Doping in Sport, that was held from 5-7 November in Katowice, Poland.

WADA Deputy Director, Standards & Harmonization and Principal, ADAMS Advancement, Stuart Kemp, said: “This is a significant milestone in the ADAMS ‘Next Gen’ project and athlete feedback was paramount in delivering what we believe is a new, easy and secure way for athletes to provide their Whereabouts. Features such as location-based address recommendations, dashboard, push notifications and Single Sign-On (SSO), will positively impact the way athletes provide Whereabouts information, making it easier to comply anytime, anywhere. We hope Athlete Central meets athletes’ expectations and we look forward to delivering the next modules of ADAMS ‘Next Gen’ to the anti-doping community.
 
For more information, please:

• visit the Athlete Central page of WADA’s website; and
• view the making of ‘Athlete Central’ video

 About ADAMS

ADAMS is a secure and free, web-based system that centralizes doping control-related information such as athlete Whereabouts, testing history, laboratory results, the Athlete Biological Passport, Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs) and information on Anti-Doping Rule Violations.

In 2017, significant upgrades to ADAMS’ underlying infrastructure laid the foundation for the complete rebuild of ADAMS, which will serve all athletes and anti-doping stakeholders better going forward. Referred to as ‘Next Gen’ ADAMS, the rebuild prioritizes mobility of ADAMS use, enhanced connectivity, reliability and performance, as well as general usability. All of ADAMS’ new features are also designed with privacy, information security, and transparency for end users as a priority.

Planning and development of ‘Next Gen’ ADAMS first focused on the development of Athlete Central. Other modules are to follow, which WADA will communicate to stakeholders in due course.

REMINDER: WADA SEEKING NOMINATIONS FOR 2020 STANDING COMMITTEE CHAIR VACANCIES

THE DEADLINE TO SUBMIT APPLICATIONS FOR THE ATHLETE COMMITTEE IS 24 OCTOBER 2019 THE DEADLINE FOR ALL OTHER COMMITTEES IS 1 NOVEMBER 2019

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) wishes to remind stakeholders that it is seeking nominations for 2020 for the Chairs of four (of its five) Standing Committees, which report into WADA's Executive Committee (ExCo) and Foundation Board (Board) and act as advisory committees, providing guidance for the Agency’s programs. The current Standing Committee Chair terms end on 31 December 2019. This public call applies to the following four vacancies: Athlete Committee Education Committee Finance and Administration Committee Health, Medical and Research Committee The deadline to submit applications for the Athlete Committee is 24 October 2019; and, for the other Standing Committees is 1 November 2019. The successful candidates will take office on 23 January 2020 [the date that WADA’s ExCo will approve the nominations]; and, their terms will conclude on 31 December 2022; after which, candidates may reapply to continue for two further three-year periods. The term of the Agency’s Compliance Review Committee Chair also concludes on 31 December 2019; however, this role will be filled via a different process due to a stricter requirement for independence. The newly formed Nominations Committee will be responsible for recruiting, reviewing and vetting the candidates for this specific position, and for setting the related processes. Standing Committee Chair Role Below, WADA is pleased to provide links to the revised Role Description/Position Profiles and Terms of Reference for each of the Committee Chair positions, which outline the scope of work and detail the functioning of the respective Committees. Athlete Committee: Role Description/Position Profile and Terms of Reference Education Committee: Role Description/Position Profile and Terms of Reference Finance and Administration Committee: Role Description/Position Profile and Terms of Reference Health, Medical and Research Committee: Role Description/Position Profile and Terms of Reference How to apply With the exception of the Athlete Committee, applications for the other committees must be forwarded by Friday, 1 November 2019 to Mr Olivier Niggli, WADA Director General, (c/o e-mail: marjorie.chinnarassen@wada-ama.org or fax: +1 514 904 8743). In the case of the Athlete Committee, the closing date to submit applications is Thursday, 24 October 2019. This special timeline is required as the WADA Athlete Committee will be reviewing the applications, which is not the case for the other committees. All nominations must include the following: a maximum one-page cover (motivational) letter; an updated curriculum vitae, which fully captures the candidate’s experience and expertise; letters of endorsement from at least two members of WADA’s Board (one representing the Olympic Movement and one representing the Public Authorities); and a signed declaration of independence form. Any questions can also be directed to Mr Niggli, c/o Ms Chinnarassen. Governance Reforms and Independence In 2017 and 2018, WADA carried out a governance review, which resulted in a series of reforms that were endorsed by WADA’s Board in November 2018; including, that certain independence criteria be applied to some governance roles. Accordingly, the Chair of each of these four Committees will need to meet the following requirements of WADA’s General Standard of Independence as stipulated below: "An individual is considered independent when he/she remains free of undue influence, is independent in character and judgment and there are no relationships or circumstances which to an informed third party could affect, or could appear to affect, the individual's judgment." About WADA Formed in 1999, WADA is an international independent agency composed and funded equally by the Sports Movement and Governments of the world. As the global regulatory body, WADA’s primary role is to develop, harmonize and coordinate anti-doping rules and policies across all sports and countries. Its key activities include: ensuring and monitoring effective implementation of the World Anti-Doping Code and its related International Standards; scientific and social science research; education; intelligence and investigations; and building anti-doping capacity with anti-doping organizations worldwide. WADA’s vision is a world where all athletes can compete in a doping-free sporting environment; and, the Agency’s mission is to lead a collaborative worldwide movement for doping-free sport. WADA is composed of a 38-member Board, which is WADA’s supreme decision-making body; a 12-member ExCo, which is WADA’s ultimate policy-making body and several Committees. The Board and ExCo are composed equally of representatives from the Sports Movement and Governments. The Board delegates the actual management and running of the Agency, including the performance of activities and the administration of assets, to the ExCo.

WADA SEEKS NOMINATIONS FOR 2020 STANDING COMMITTEE CHAIR VACANCIES

Montreal, 25 September 2019 – The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is seeking nominations for 2020 for the Chairs of four (of its five) Standing Committees, which report into WADA's Executive Committee (ExCo) and Foundation Board (Board) and act as advisory committees, providing guidance for the Agency’s programs.

The current Standing Committee Chair terms end on 31 December 2019. This public call applies to the following four vacancies:

1. Athlete Committee
2. Education Committee
3. Finance and Administration Committee
4. Health, Medical and Research Committee

The successful candidates will take office on 23 January 2020 [the date that WADA’s ExCo will approve the nominations]; and, their terms will conclude on 31 December 2022; after which, candidates may reapply to continue for two further three-year periods.
 
The term of the Agency’s Compliance Review Committee Chair also concludes on 31 December 2019; however, this role will be filled via a different process due to a stricter requirement for independence. The newly formed Nominations Committee will be responsible for recruiting, reviewing and vetting the candidates for this specific position, and for setting the related processes.
 
Standing Committee Chair Role
 
Below, WADA is pleased to provide links to the revised Role Description/Position Profiles and Terms of Reference for each of the Committee Chair positions, which outline the scope of work and detail the functioning of the respective Committees.

• Athlete Committee: Role Description/Position Profile and Terms of Reference
• Education Committee: Role Description/Position Profile and Terms of Reference
• Finance and Administration Committee: Role Description/Position Profile and Terms of Reference
• Health, Medical and Research Committee: Role Description/Position Profile and Terms of Reference

How to apply
 
To be considered, all applications must be forwarded by Friday, 1 November 2019 to Mr Olivier Niggli, WADA Director General, (c/o e-mail: marjorie.chinnarassen@wada-ama.org or fax: +1 514 904 8743).
 
In the case of the Athlete Committee Chair, the closing date to submit applications is Thursday, 24 October 2019. This special timeline is required as the WADA Athlete Committee will be reviewing the applications, which is not the case for the other positions.
 
All nominations must include the following:

• a maximum one-page cover (motivational) letter;
• an updated curriculum vitae, which fully captures the candidate’s experience and expertise;
• letters of endorsement from at least two members of WADA’s Board (one representing the Olympic Movement and one representing the Public Authorities); and
• a signed declaration of independence form.

Any questions can also be directed to Mr Niggli, c/o Ms Chinnarassen.

Governance Reforms and Independence

As it relates to independence, in 2017 and 2018, WADA carried out a governance review, which resulted in a series of reforms that were endorsed by WADA’s Board in November 2018; including, that certain independence criteria be applied to some governance roles.

Accordingly, the Chair of each of these four Committees will need to meet the following requirements of WADA’s General Standard of Independence as stipulated below:

"An individual is considered independent when he/she remains free of undue influence, is independent in character and judgment and there are no relationships or circumstances which to an informed third party could affect, or could appear to affect, the individual's judgment."

About WADA

Formed in 1999, WADA is an international independent agency composed and funded equally by the Sports Movement and Governments of the world. As the global regulatory body, WADA’s primary role is to develop, harmonize and coordinate anti-doping rules and policies across all sports and countries. Its key activities include: ensuring and monitoring effective implementation of the World Anti-Doping Code and its related International Standards; scientific and social science research; education; intelligence and investigations; and building anti-doping capacity with anti-doping organizations worldwide.

WADA’s vision is a world where all athletes can compete in a doping-free sporting environment; and, the Agency’s mission is to lead a collaborative worldwide movement for doping-free sport.

WADA is composed of a 38-member Board, which is WADA’s supreme decision-making body; a 12-member ExCo, which is WADA’s ultimate policy-making body and several Committees. The Board and ExCo are composed equally of representatives from the Sports Movement and Governments. The Board delegates the actual management and running of the Agency, including the performance of activities and the administration of assets, to the ExCo.

WADA SUSPENDS ACCREDITATION OF NEW DELHI LABORATORY

Montreal, 22 August 2019 – The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has suspended the accreditation of the National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) in New Delhi, India, for a period of up to six months.
 
This suspension has been imposed due to non-conformities with the International Standard for Laboratories (ISL) as identified during a WADA site visit, including in relation to the laboratory’s isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC/C/IRMS) analytical method, as regulated by the relevant technical document (TD2016IRMS).
 
In May 2019, disciplinary proceedings were initiated by WADA’s Laboratory Expert Group (LabEG) and subsequently carried out by an independent Disciplinary Committee, which was mandated to make a recommendation to the Chair of the WADA Executive Committee regarding the status of the laboratory’s accreditation. This process is now complete.
 
The suspension, which took effect on 20 August 2019, prohibits the NDTL from carrying out any anti-doping activities, including all analyses of urine and blood samples. During the period of suspension, samples that have not yet been analyzed by the NDTL; samples currently undergoing a confirmation procedure; and any samples for which an Adverse Analytical Finding has been reported, must be securely transported to another WADA-accredited laboratory. This is in order to ensure continued high-quality sample analysis, which also helps preserve athletes’ confidence in this process and the wider anti-doping system.
 
Pursuant to Article 13.7 of the World Anti-Doping Code, the laboratory may appeal this decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport within 21 days of receipt of notice.
 
During the period of suspension, the laboratory shall address all non-conformities identified by the LabEG or WADA in any request for corrective action or otherwise, as well as any additional non-conformities identified during any follow up WADA site visit during the suspension period. If the laboratory satisfies the LabEG in meeting these requirements, it may apply for reinstatement prior to the expiry of the six-month suspension period. Should the laboratory not address the non-conformities by the end of the six-month suspension period, WADA may extend the suspension of the laboratory’s accreditation for up to an additional six months.
 
In accordance with the ISL, WADA is responsible for accrediting and re-accrediting anti-doping laboratories, thereby ensuring that they maintain the highest quality standards. This monitoring process is conducted in conjunction with International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assessment by independent national accreditation bodies that are full members of the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC).

WADA AND iNADO REAFFIRM STRONG RELATIONSHIP FOR GOOD OF CLEAN SPORT

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the Institute of National Anti-Doping Organisations (iNADO) met on 18 June in Copenhagen, Denmark to discuss ways to enhance the collaboration between the two organizations for the benefit of clean sport. iNADO is the international member body for National Anti-Doping Organizations (NADOs) that promotes best anti-doping practices by NADOs and represents its members as their international voice.

With iNADO’s membership of 67 NADOs accounting for 90% of the NADO testing activity worldwide, the organization has an important role to play in the protection and promotion of clean sport. The meeting, which was led by WADA President Sir Craig Reedie and iNADO Chair Michael Ask, identified a number of key areas of focus intended to further strengthen the WADA-iNADO relationship. These areas included:

• A commitment to further developing a collaborative partnership in all areas of clean sport.
• Working together to enhance anti-doping programs globally, with a focus on smaller, less-resourced countries through NADOs and Regional Anti-Doping Organizations (RADOs).
• Ensuring strong NADO representation on WADA Standing Committees, as outlined in the WADA Governance reforms agreed in November 2018.

Sir Craig said: “WADA relies on the expertise of and collaboration with a range of partners in leading the worldwide movement for doping-free sport and NADOs are at the heart of this mission. As we commit to ensuring that the NADOs are more strongly represented within WADA, we will also be working hard to reinforce our relationship by sharing resources and collaborating on important anti-doping initiatives. Put simply, a good and effective partnership between WADA and iNADO benefits both organizations as well as the wider clean sport movement.”

Mr Ask, who is also CEO of Anti-Doping Denmark, said: “iNADO is completely supportive of the work WADA does, primarily through the excellent contributions of its hard-working staff in developing practical programs to support clean athletes and clean sport. I am very pleased that WADA wants to engage further with iNADO. We all seek to enhance the level of anti-doping work worldwide and it makes a lot of sense that we use our resources collaboratively to make that happen.”

With WADA in the process of developing its new NADO-RADO program development strategy and iNADO going through its own strategic planning review, the time is ideal for the organizations to work together and seek synergies for the benefit of athletes.

WADA launches ALPHA 2.0 Anti-Doping eLearning course for athletes

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is pleased to launch an updated version of the Athlete Learning Program about Health and Anti-Doping (ALPHA) course on its Anti-Doping e-Learning Platform (ADeL).

Initially launched in 2014 – and developed with the help of athletes, leading psychologists, behavioral scientists, education technologists, e-learning specialists and prevention specialists – ALPHA represents a holistic, values-based approach and offers a pragmatic and positive alternative to the traditional approach to the prevention of doping. The course has already been successfully completed by over 22,500 of ADeL’s 35,000 subscribers.

The new ALPHA 2.0 preserves the course’s original content but adopts a fresh new look and feel, along with improved interactive activities. The updated course also includes athlete testimonial videos, which provide a point of reference and are proven to be an effective means of peer learning. The course is initially being launched in English with the other 5 ALPHA languages (French, Croatian, Japanese, Spanish and Slovenian) to follow this year. ALPHA 1.0 remains available for everyone in all languages.
 
The updated ALPHA 2.0 has been broken down into eight digestible lessons, taking approximately 10 minutes to complete each one. The course aims to improve retention and meet the needs of the modern learner for bite-size courses. ALPHA 2.0 is also mobile-friendly so athletes will be able to easily access the course through their smart phones or tablets.

The course’s first six lessons address the World Anti-Doping Code’s requirement for athletes to be educated on the following:

1. Doping control
2. Whereabouts
3. Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs)
4. Results management processes
5. Medical reasons not to dope, and
6. Ethical reasons not to dope

Lessons seven and eight offer practical help on how to stay clean and how to resist the pressure to dope, which encourages athletes to develop positive and proactive plans to avoid doping in a way that is particularly meaningful for them.

The end of the course features The Play True Pledge, which allows athletes to demonstrate publicly their commitment to clean sport by sharing The Pledge on their social media accounts. There is also a post-course test to assess the knowledge of the athletes – a score of 80% or higher is required for certification.

To access the ALPHA 2.0 course, simply register on ADeL or log in to your existing account. If you register as an athlete, ALPHA 2.0 will be featured automatically on your home page. For other roles, you can find the course in the Library section. In order to help users navigate through the platform, WADA has also created an ADeL User Guide, which should help users fully benefit from the ADeL platform.

For any questions or to provide feedback on ALPHA 2.0 or other ADeL resources, please direct your emails to adel@wada-ama.org.

WADA INVITES STAKEHOLDERS TO CELEBRATE “PLAY TRUE DAY” ON 10 APRIL

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) invites all of its stakeholders to join WADA in celebrating ‘Play True Day’ on 10 April along with fellow athletes, National and Regional Anti-Doping Organizations, Sports Federations, Major Event Organizers and other anti-doping stakeholders from around the world.
 
‘Play True Day’ is dedicated to clean sport and is intended to raise awareness among athletes, the sporting public and others about the global fight against doping. The inspiration for this initiative stems from a WADA-hosted Education Conference in 2013, which was attended by 17 South American countries that were the driving force behind 10 April being declared ‘Play True Day’. While it started as a small South American initiative, over the years, this grassroots movement has gained momentum with numerous organizations and countries from across the globe taking part.

In a spirit of solidarity among the anti-doping community, we invite you to join WADA and others by celebrating ‘Play True Day’ on your digital and social media platforms using one of the branded frames WADA has created especially for the day. Alternatively, you may wish to innovate and create your own Play True Day frame with a unique twist based on your specific sport or country. We also invite you all to use the hashtag #PlayTrueDay both in the leadup to and on the day in order to maximize the impact of the event on social media.

Also, should you have any queries or events/videos etc. that you would like to promote, please visit the Play True Day Website, or feel free to contact Nina Makuc from the Slovenian NADO at nina.makuc@sloado.si, who has been a true champion of the cause.

WADA WELCOMES LATEST COURT OF ARBITRATION FOR SPORT DECISIONS

Montreal, 1 February 2019 – The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) welcomes the decisions of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) issued today (1 February) in 12 disciplinary cases against athletes that stem from the WADA-commissioned investigation conducted by Prof. Richard McLaren into institutionalized doping in Russia. CAS agreed with the reports issued by Prof. McLaren and the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), on behalf of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), and pursued allegations of anti-doping rule violations (ADRVs) against the 12 Russian athletes, concluding that these athletes “participated in and/or benefited from anabolic steroid doping programs and benefited from specific protective methods” between 2012 and 2013. CAS found that the violations were committed as part of a centralized doping scheme and these rulings confirm an earlier CAS decision in the case of another Russian athlete, Anna Pyatykh, which was also brought forward by the AIU based on McLaren evidence in 2017. WADA Director General Olivier Niggli said: “These decisions come as welcome news for athletes, anti-doping organizations, WADA and all others around the world who care about clean sport. This should serve to reassure athletes that a lot of work is being conducted behind the scenes by various organizations that are committed to ensure that justice is rendered. It reinforces the importance of ensuring that due process is followed and that evidence is carefully presented. “I congratulate the AIU and IAAF for successfully bringing these cases forward. It is vitally important now that the hard work continues for the good of all athletes across a range of sports. This creates an important precedent that will be used in future cases. “This highlights also, once again, just how important the successful retrieval of the analytical data from the former Moscow Laboratory by WADA last month is for clean sport and reinforces the decision taken by the WADA Executive Committee (ExCo) on 20 September 2018 to reinstate as compliant the Russian Anti-Doping Agency under strict conditions, including access to the data. This large amount of data, which would not have been retrieved without that September ExCo decision, is currently being verified and assessed and, if found to be authentic, will be used to bring forward more cases against those who cheated.”

– ENDS –

James Fitzgerald Senior Manager, Media Relations and Communications Phone: + 1-514-904-8225 E-mail: media@wada-ama.org Maggie Durand Manager, Media Relations and Communications Phone: + 1-514-904-8225 E-mail: media@wada-ama.org

WADA SUCCESSFULLY RETRIEVES DATA FROM MOSCOW LABORATORY

Montreal, 17 January 2019 – A three-person World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) expert team has successfully retrieved the data from the Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) and the underlying analytical data generated by the former Moscow Laboratory in Russia.
 
The data are crucial to build strong cases against cheats and exonerate other athletes suspected of having participated in widespread doping on the basis of previous WADA-commissioned investigations led by Richard W. Pound and Professor Richard H. McLaren. The data has been retrieved from the laboratory’s various servers, instruments, computers and other electronic equipment. This information has now been transported out of Russia for authentication and detailed analysis by the Agency.
 
The independent Compliance Review Committee (CRC), which met in Montreal on 14-15 January to consider the Russian Anti-Doping Agency’s (RUSADA’s) compliance status, received a full report on everything that has happened since the 20 September 2018 decision of WADA’s Executive Committee (ExCo) to reinstate RUSADA, under strict conditions, to the list of World Anti-Doping Code-compliant Signatories. It has now submitted its recommendation to be considered by the ExCo on 22 January. The CRC drafted its report and recommendation during its meeting and finalized it only after the WADA expert team had left Russia.
 
WADA President Sir Craig Reedie said: “This is a major breakthrough for clean sport. It shows we are continuing to make real progress that simply would not have happened without the 20 September ExCo decision. The first phase of the three-phase process outlined by that decision is now complete. The long impasse around access to the former Moscow Laboratory has been broken and that is significantly good news.
 
“WADA now embarks on the second phase, which entails the authentication and review of the data to ensure it is complete and that it has not been compromised. Given the amount of data, that will take some time to achieve but our experts have the tools they need to be able to verify the data with a high degree of confidence.
 
“Once the data have been authenticated, we will be in a position to proceed to the third phase and support the various sports and other anti-doping organizations concerned to build strong cases against athletes who doped and, as part of that, ensure that certain samples that are still stored in the Moscow Laboratory are re-analyzed in an accredited laboratory no later than 30 June 2019.”
 
On 31 December 2018, RUSADA and the Russian authorities missed a deadline to provide access to the data. On 1 January 2019, WADA immediately notified RUSADA of this non-conformity and the fast-track process outlined in the International Standard for Code Compliance by Signatories (ISCCS) was instigated. Under the terms of the ISCCS, it is key for WADA, as the regulator, to follow due process and give any Signatory the opportunity to make a submission to the CRC to explain the non-conformity.
 
At all times, WADA maintained its resolve to retrieve these crucial data so more cases of doping could be asserted against cheats and so other athletes could be exonerated. WADA continues to pursue that goal in the interest of athletes worldwide.