Bangkok conference places premium on clean sports
Thailand is hosting the 2018 Regional AntiDoping Organization (Rado) Conference in Bangkok.
The two-day event began yesterday with Tourism and Sports Minister Weerasak Kowsurat presiding over the opening ceremony at a Bangkok hotel.
The conference will brainstorm ways to raise awareness of the problem of doping in 16 regions, promote the organisation’s activities and develop a programme in compliance with the World Anti-Doping (Wada) code to make sports as clean as possible.
Among the participants from anti-doping bodies and 134 countries are Wada director-general Olivier Niggli, Wada deputy director-general Rob Kehler and Olympic Council of Asia director-general Husain Al Musallam.
Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul, a member of the International Olympic Committee, said the participants want to make sports as clean as possible. She said Wada had done a great amount of work through Rado to eradicate the problem.
“We can only achieve this through cooperation with all parties concerned, including the Olympic movement and governments,” said Khunying Patama.
Meanwhile, Thailand will host the SportAccord 2018 in Bangkok next week.
The April 15-20 event, to be held at Centara Grand & Bangkok Convention Centre at CentralWorld, is expected to welcome more than 1,500 participants from around the world, including IOC president Thomas Bach.
Bach will meet Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon at Government House on April 7, she said.
Gen Prawit is also president of the National Olympic Committee of Thailand.