Doping authority reform on WADA agenda

THE thorny issue of creating a new drug-testing authorityrity independent of international federationsations will be on the agenda in Montreal eal today at a key meeting of the World Anti-Doping Agency just eight months ahead of the Winter Olympics.

Currently in the fight against drugs, individual international ational federations wield varying degrees ess ofof of powerpower power over doping controls, in manym many cases acting as judge andndd jury, according to the system’sem m’s critics.

The International al l Olympic Committee, which h faced criticism last year for or r its response to the Russias ssia doping scandal, ha has as already sought tt t o increase independd dence by handing prii- mary responsibilityy for sanctioning to the hee Court of Arbitration on n for Sport. At an Olympic summit lastlas October the IOC called for the creatio creation of a new body for independent testing,testi while barring international sports federationsfe from drug-testing responsibilities.responsib The IOC argues the prese present system has failed to ensure clean competitionco and creates obvious conflicts of interest for sports federations. WADA launched a working group last November to studdy study the pr proposal of setting up an independentinddepende testing authority. The findings of that tthat workingwork group are expected expectedd to be oneo of the key items on the agendaa for this week’s weekk’s meeti meeting of the WADA FoundationFooundatio Board in Montreal, Montreall, which g gets underway today. tooday. J e ee a n - C h r i s t o p h e Rolland, RRolland, the president ddent of the International nnational Rowing FederationFFederatio (ISAF), said that there was broad support for change.

“All the partners agree on a basic principle that the system needs to be improved,” Rolland said. “But, depending on the size of the federations, the situations and means are different,” the former Olympic champion added.

The push for an independent testing authority is not to everyone’s taste however. Several powerful federations, notably world football’s governing body FIFA, have already indicated they want to be exempt from the proposed reforms.

“We respect the WADA and IOC proposals but they concern the smaller federations,” said FIFA Medical Committee Chairman Michel D’Hooghe.

Irrespective of those tensions, however, the IOC is sticking to its goal of having a reformed system in place by the time of February’s Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. “We intend to make the controls totally independent of the IOC,” said President of the IOC Thomas Bach (pictured, AFP).

This task will be entrusted to a new independent testing authority whose structure may be outlined at today’s WADA Board meeting.

According to a source with knowledge of the issue, the proposed new testing authority would be created as a foundation under the control of a five-member board.

“However the vagueness raises many questions, notably concerning the legal structure and the composition and appointment of this council,” the source said. “It is quite clear that the IOC, WADA and the national anti-doping agencies have different visions of what the new testing authority should look like,” the source added.

Rolland, meanwhile, acknowledged the tensions when addressing the issue of how the new authority would be financed. “The difficulty will be to find a business model that satisfies everyone,” he said.