12 – 13 March 2024 | Lausanne, Switzerland

Today was the first day of the WADA Annual Symposium, attended by the IKA delegation led by the IKA Vice President. This symposium gathers all top sports leaders to get acquainted with WADA and its crucial role in sport. Today’s Seminar started in Auditorium A at 9:00 a.m. and was followed by a welcome speech by the WADA President and Director General. An overview of WADA 2024 and its objectives was presented.
Sébastien Gillot, Director, European office and Sport Movement Relations, World Anti-Doping Agency was the moderator and Christelle Luisier Brodard, State Councilor of the Canton of Vaud. Head of the Institutions, Land and Sport Department was the presenter.

After the Break, Plenary Sessions took place in Auditorium A. The European Commission Vice President delivered a keynote speech. The European Commission has long been an important partner of WADA and key to helping strengthen the global anti-doping system in areas such as anti-doping education and awareness building, scientific and social science research, and intelligence and investigations. During this session, European Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas will reflect on this partnership and look forward to future opportunities for collaboration.

The next session European Intelligence & Investigations’ Capability and Capacity Building Project (Hybrid format) In 2022, WADA won a European Union grant to strengthen the intelligence and investigations capability and capacity of National Anti-Doping Organizations (NADOs) and Law Enforcement in 48 European countries. This session will reflect on the achievements to date, including some exceptional results.
At 13.45, the afternoon session started Benchmarking in the ADO community.
While there are strict rules in the World Anti-Doping Code (Code) and International Standards regarding the implementation of programs, it is sometimes unclear to Anti-Doping Organizations (ADOs) where their performance ‘should’ be or what is ‘sufficient’, e.g., in terms of resources and number of tests. With the use of data analytics, WADA has started to analyze ranges within which ADOs are performing in accordance with their obligations, enabling the creation of benchmarking tools. This can allow ADOs to assess themselves relative to others, and to have a realistic view of what they should be striving to achieve with program delivery. This session will discuss the process of coming up with these benchmarks, their utility, and their pitfalls. The experienced Presenters were Eimear O’Leary-Barrett, Manager, Program Development, World Anti-Doping Agency
Martin Lauesen, Director, NADO Norway
June Spence-Jarrett, Executive Director, NADO Jamaica (JADCO)

The 1st Workshop on Blood Doping ( trends and perspectives ) took place in GARDEN 5; the main aim of this session was to tackle the question of whether anti-doping measures can impact athlete behaviour by examining blood doping data over the past decade. The effects of evolving detection methods, testing frequency, and effective use of the Athlete Biological Passport will be discussed to highlight potential opportunities for further refinement of testing strategies. The Presenters were Francesca Rossi, Director, Testing Department, NADO France (AFLD)
Olivier Banuls, Head of Testing, International Testing Agency

The 2nd Workshop of the day in Garden 1BC, “Moot Court “, was a very interesting workshop; where it simulated a court hearing of an anti-doping case, which involved cross-examination and closing arguments, Mr. Ross Wenzel played an important role, with the panellists being Nicolas Zbinden, Partner, Kellerhals Carrard Law Firm Mariane Saroli, Senior Legal Counsel, International Automobile Federation Dora Hegyi, Member, WADA Athlete Council Iñaki Gomez, Member, WADA Athlete Council

Before the afternoon break a Q.A from the experts took place in Garden 1A .
After the afternoon break, we were back to the Concurrent Sessions, which, of course, were simultaneous and took place in gardens 2 and 3.

NADO operational independence – lessons learnt and looking ahead to the 2027 Code
NADO operational independence is one of the concepts being considered as part of the 2027 Code update process. During the 2021 Code revision process, the anti-doping community agreed that this requirement should be further bolstered, which resulted in stronger wording in the 2021 Code.
NADOs have now had an opportunity to implement this requirement, which remains a very relevant topic of discussion by NADOs and other stakeholders. WADA has also had a chance to implement the compliance monitoring process related to this requirement and has identified some challenges/limitations.
In light of the 2027 Code update process, this session will discuss the need or lack thereof to strengthen the operational independence requirement further; whether the Guide for NADO Operational Independence is sufficient, and how to address the issue of National Federation involvement in testing and/or results management that is under the responsibility of NADOs.
The presenters of this session were Ieva Lukosiute-Stanikuniene, Senior Manager, NADO/RADO Relations, World Anti-Doping Agency.
Meechai Inwood, Advisor of Governor, Sports Authority of Thailand
Jane Rumble, Chief Executive Officer, NADO United Kingdom (UKAD)
Saad Alnefaie, Chief Executive Officer, NADO Bahrain
Sasha Sutherland, Executive Director, Caribbean RADO
An essential workshop which took place in Garden 1BC was about “ How to navigate whereabouts “ The increasing number of whereabouts failures. This session will provide stakeholders with a review of whereabouts filing requirements, including tips from the athlete and ADO testing perspective and strategies to prosecute whereabouts cases, followed by “Ask the experts Sessions” where we could address Experts and WADA Staff on various issues.
The last program of the day was in GARDEN 5 – I&I Symposium –Operational impact of the EU I&I Capability and Capacity Building Project .

One of the objectives of the EU project was to encourage NADOs and Law Enforcement to initiate joint operations to tackle performance-enhancing drug manufacturing, trafficking, and doping. To date, more than 20 operations have been initiated.

The day finished with the AUDITORIUM A 25th Anniversary Gala.

WADA was established on 10 November 1999 to lead the global collaborative mission for a doping-free sport. This gala will gather Symposium attendees and other invited guests to celebrate WADA’s 25th anniversary, the accomplishments of the global anti-doping community, and some of its key contributors. It’s notable that over 1,000 people participated in the WADA Symposium worldwide.

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