2018 WADA's Annual Symposium

The ICSD Doping Control Officer, Mr. Artem Buerov and the Advisor to the ICSD President, Ms. Xenia Morfopoulos attended the WADA Symposium, which is the main event on the global anti-doping calendar.

Compliance, funding and capturing the athlete’s voice were among the main topics at the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA’s) 14th Annual Symposium held last week in Lausanne, Switzerland

The WADA Symposium 2018 gathered a record 900 delegates from the global anti-doping community for three days of presentations, interviews, panel discussions, practical workshops and networking sessions. Athlete representatives, International Federations, government representatives, National and Regional Anti-Doping Organizations, Major Event Organizers, WADA-accredited laboratories and Athlete Passport Management units, as well as more than 50 international media and other stakeholders gathered together at the Swiss Tech Center under the theme “Shaping the Future of Clean Sport”.

Most notably, the WADA President, Sir Craig Reedie, spoke of WADA’s International Standart for Code Compliance by Signatories that will enter into force on 1 April 2018, together with enhanced intelligence and investigations activity and the new Speak Up! whistleblower program.
“Together, we will change the game for clean sport and strengthen athlete and public trust and confidence.”

The WADA Director General, Mr. Olivier Niggli, took delegates through the WADA’s strategic priorities which include the following: harmonizing Code rules via the 2021 Code Review,  simultaneous review of the International Standards; increasing scientific and social science research; enhancing education, most notably through the development of an International Standard for Education and Information; capacity building of Anti-Doping Organizations; and the ongoing overhaul of WADA’s Anti-Doping Administration and Management System (ADAMS).

One of the highlights of the Symposium’s day one was a panel discussion focusing on rebuilding anti-doping in Russia, featuring representatives from RUSADA and one of its independent experts, the International Olympic Committee, UK Anti-Doping and WADA. The emphasis was set on the progress made to date by RUSADA and the task remaining to achieve the end goal of RUSADA being to re-join the international anti-doping community in a credible and sustainable way that would restore confidence in the integrity of Russian sport.

Day two and three kicked off with a panel discussion on the need for an increased investment in the field of anti-doping necessary to protect clean sport. This was followed by a ‘Speak Up!’ session, which has gained significant trust of all stakeholders in its first 12 months in operation with 209 reports having been submitted in 2017.

WADA then gave an update on the topic of safeguarding doping control process with sustainable security bottle supply following the bottle manufacturer Berlinger Special AG’s decision earlier this month to withdraw from the doping control business after experiencing serious integrity issues with some of its bottles.

The remainder of the Symposium featured engaging sessions, such as increased collaboration through WADA’s online education platform (ADeL) and optimizing ADAMS for high performance, usability and assured data protection. In addition, there were practical workshops covering almost every facet of anti-doping.

In a whole, a very interesting and rich exchange platform dedicated to the international clean sport and the common goal of fighting doping with increased efficiency and regulated process.