EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT HEARING ON DOPING 29/11/2004. The Role of WADA in the fight against doping, Tom Dielen, Director European Regional Office WADA

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1 EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT HEARING ON DOPING 29/11/2004 The Role of WADA in the fight against doping, Tom Dielen, Director European Regional Office WADA Mr. Chairman, Distinguished members of the commission, One of the principal events that led to WADA s formation was the sight, on television, of French police taking athletes, coaches and officials to jail during the 1998 Tour de France. They were arrested because the police had found illegal drugs in their possession, drugs that were being used to cheat. The same year a similar incident happened in Australia with Customs officers seizing prohibited substances from Athletes and Coaches prior to the World Swimming Championships. Both events highlighted the interest for greater and coordinated anti-doping efforts by both public and private authorities. In February 1999 upon initiative of the IOC was convened in Lausanne, attended by the sports movement, including athletes, and governments to deal with the issue of what is called doping in sport. The meeting decided that what was needed was a completely independent agency to coordinate the fight against doping in sport. WADA was created at the end of Membership in and commitment to WADA is 50% sports movement (including Olympic athletes) and 50% governments. It is the first time in history that all of the parties necessary to solving the problem have been at the same table, at the same time and with the same objective. There are some things that sport organizations cannot do and there are some things that governments cannot do, but together, all of the necessary elements can be coordinated. WADA is a private foundation under Swiss law with a Foundation Board comprising of 18 representatives for the Olympic Movement and 18 representatives for the public authorities. The foundation is chaired by Mr. Richard W. Pound, former Olympian, whose term has been extended to the end of 2007, and since last week also has a Vice-Chair, Mr. Brian Mikkelsen, Minister for Sports of Denmark, whose term is for The WADA Headquarters are located in Montreal and it has three regional offices to assure appropriate liaison and communication throughout the world.

2 The vision of WADA is the promotion of a doping-free culture in sport and its mission is to promote, coordinate and monitor on an international basis, the fight against doping in sport in all its forms. The most remarkable achievement of WADA to date has been to shepherd the adoption of a uniform set of anti-doping rules, contained in the World Anti-Doping Code. At a World Conference on Doping in Sport held in Copenhagen in March of 2003, some 1,200 delegates representing 80 governments, the IOC, all of the Olympic sports, national Olympic committees, Olympic athletes, laboratories, national agencies and other sports organizations unanimously agreed to adopt the world Anti-Doping Code as the basis for the fight against doping in sport. The Conference Resolution, accepting the World Anti-Doping Code as the basis for the fight against doping in sport, was unanimously agreed to by delegates at the conference. The representatives of the Public Authorities pledged through the Copenhagen declaration to recognize the Code as the formal basis for the fight against doping in sport. The Copenhagen declaration has up to this day been signed by 156 governments including all European Union members. The next step for the Public authorities will be the finalization of the UNESCO Convention which is well on its way and should be presented by the UNESCO Director General for adoption at the UNESCO General Convention in September The International Olympic Committee has amended its Charter and the World Anti-Doping Code is obligatory for the whole Olympic Movement. Furthermore only sports that adopt and implement the World Anti-Doping Code can be included and remain in the program of the Olympic Games. The 35 Olympic International Federations and 29 Recognized International Federations have all accepted the World Anti Doping Code and with the exception of a couple have implemented the Code in their rules. All 202 National Olympic Committees and nearly all National Paralympic Committees have also accepted the Code. National Anti Doping Organisations are also making progress in accepting and implementing the Code.

3 The next step for WADA will be to start the monitoring process of the Code implementation of all the signatories. In terms of the main activities and the role of WADA I will highlight the following 5 key programs Science Education Independent Observer Missions ADAMS Anti-Doping Administration and Management System Out-of-Competition Testing Program When we look at science we think in the first place to research. WADA is very pleased to see that its investment in research which mounts up to 14 million US$ committed is starting to show its results with 3 new tests being introduced in Athens. Recently finasteride has been added to the prohibited list as a result of research showing that it can be misused as masking agent and we also see concrete progress in other detection methods. One of the most important parts of our science activities is what is generally referred to as the List, the description of the substances and procedures that constitute doping. This list is reviewed annually (or more often if there are special circumstances) by an international panel of scientific and medical experts. Substances or procedures are added to or removed from the list against a matrix of considerations: whether they are performance-enhancing; whether they are dangerous to the health of athletes; and whether they violate the spirit of sport. If any combination of two of these factors is present, the substance or procedure may be added to the list. The updating of the Prohibited list is a core activity for WADA. Aware that there are more than molecules in existence worldwide the determination of the list, especially with the misuse of gene therapy in the starting blocks, is a complex process. The fact that we see products that are no longer being used for therapeutic purposes sometimes re-appear for doping related purposes, makes this an even more challenging task. WADA is since the start of 2004 also responsible for the accreditation of Laboratories and through a sophisticated proficiency testing program, WADA is making sure that the standard of the laboratories is as high as possible to prevent any false positives and to enable that the athletes are assured that it doesn t matter where their samples are being analyzed, the result will be the same.

4 The last matter related to science is Therapeutic Use Exemptions since an Athlete is also a normal human being and therefore should have the right to the same level of medical care as any other human being. However the international standard ensures that such medical usage does not provide a way to the athlete to abuse the system and get an unfair advantage. Education is the way to make substantial progress in the fight against doping. Only education will thoroughly achieve the doping-free culture which WADA aims to accomplish. Our educational activities are concentrated around concerted actions with key players in the Sporting Movement, National Anti Doping Organizations and Public Authorities. A Play True campaign with outreach activities, printed material, symposia and other educational activities are some of the means used by WADA. WADA has already cooperated with the European Union in this area and an e- learning application was developed in cooperation with the EU. The Independent Observers program was established just prior to the Sydney Olympic Games and has been implemented to re-establish the lost confidence athletes and the public at large had in the doping control programs at major events. Their reports not only give a true reflection on what the observers have seen but also is a very useful tool in the improvement of the processes related to the doping control. We for instance can see that the recommendations of the report of the Sydney Report were implemented in the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City and Athens. We are sure that the same will be the case for the next Olympic Games. The Athens report has just been published and is available on our website for consultation. The Anti-Doping Administration and Management System is a computer program under development by WADA to assist all stakeholders in the fight against doping to fulfill their obligations as established under the Code. The system will act as a clearinghouse for test results, a way for athletes to provide their whereabouts information and a tool to plan and schedule testing.

5 This system will be implemented in phases as of early In the area of testing it is clear that to be efficient the focus had to shift from in competition testing to unannounced out of competition testing. When WADA was created very few national anti doping organizations and international federations had such an out of competition testing program. We were surprised to discover, when WADA first began to do such testing, that a majority of the Olympic sports did not even have rules that allowed for such out-of-competition tests. Now they are mandatory, and have all been changed. Testing, in turn, requires knowledge of the whereabouts of the athletes on a daily basis, as well as the ability to locate them and to require submission to the tests. If athletes are able to disappear for two, three or four weeks, doping may be administered to produce residual performance-enhancing effects. Gaining access to many countries in the world can involve many complicated formalities, including advance notice and a declaration as to the purpose of the visit. Such formalities, inevitably, serve as an alert to possible subjects of the tests. After 3 years of conducting up to 5000 tests a year, WADA has decided to reduce the number of tests and to focus on quality rather than quantity. WADA wants to be complementary in its approach and to test in the areas of the world where no tests are being conducted. This year WADA will have conducted around 2000 tests combining urine and blood testing. In conclusion doping is very seldom accidental. The occasional athlete may take a cold tablet by mistake or ingest tainted nutritional supplements without any intention of doping, but these cases are few and through proper education can be avoided. Taking anabolic steroids is not accidental. Taking THG is not accidental. Taking EPO is not accidental. Blood transfusions are not accidental. Genetic doping, when it becomes a reality, is not accidental. WADA in cooperation with the Olympic Movement and the Public Authorities can make a difference in the fight against doping and together we are starting to make a difference and achieving athletes to Play True. This fight is for the athletes, for their health and for them to be able to win because they are the best, not because they have the best laboratory.