WADA, the World Anti-Doping Agency, held the two-day annual symposium in Lausanne on March 14-15. More than 1,000 participants (around 850 in person and 150 virtually) from the global anti-doping community, under this year’s theme ‘United Toward a World of Doping-Free Sport’. Federation of International Bandy, as WADA Code signatory participated at the Symposium represented by Mr Attila Adamfi, General Secretary, who met and discussed actual Anti-Doping tasks with WADA, International Testing Agency (ITA) and different National Anti-Doping Organisations.
The UNESCO Convention is the multilateral treaty, adopted in 2005, that formally commits governments to align their domestic policies with the Code. It is intended to help governments maintain a high anti-doping standard. The Convention calls on States to adopt national measures to eliminate doping and to harmonize anti-doping rules internationally, in order to create a fair playing environment for all athletes.
In his keynote speech, the WADA President Mr Witold Bańka said:
–“The UNESCO Convention is needed to be strengthened. The Convention has no effective enforcement mechanism so violating it has virtually no consequences. Even Russia has remained a compliant state party despite WADA’s revelation of a massive institutionalized doping program in that country and despite the Court of Sports recognizing the active role of the Russian government in the doping scandal. How is this possible? We would like to see UNESCO’s focus on improving the convention”, said Mr Banka.
The second day of the symposium touched on important topics such as the Athlete Biological Passport, the Athletes’ Anti-Doping Ombuds Program, Education, Privacy, Governmental accountability and many other subjects. The participants had the opportunity to learn about and discuss a number of important topics for the future.
It has been obvious that education remains the best long-term solution to protect the values of clean sport. It is a critical component of the global anti-doping system. More and more, WADA is seeing the real results that education delivers in preventing doping and supporting athletes in their efforts to compete clean throughout their careers. This is a key part of the mission to be athlete centered.
WADA Vice President Mr Yang Yang pointed that athletes must be provided with the right tools while they are still young in order to protect themselves.
-“However, education is not limited to athletes – we must also consider the role of their entourage. By educating the entourage, the values of clean competition will filter down to the athlete. WADA is tasked with protecting athletes from the unscrupulous forces that may surround them, while also helping them identify dishonest behaviors and push back against coaches who do not prioritize their welfare. We must continue to commit resources to bringing dishonest coaches and doctors to justice under the World Anti-Doping Code and preventing the entourage from having a negative impact on athletes’ lives.”
