WADA PUBLISHES REDESIGNED, MORE ATHLETE-FRIENDLY, 2021 PROHIBITED LIST

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Published on Friday, 02 October 2020 18:11

TO ALL WAKO MEMBERS

WADA has published the new Prohibited list, which will come into force on 1st January 2021.

Major modifications from the current list are explained in the WADA Newsletter below.
We encourage athletes, coaches, and members of support teams to get familiar with the List.
The members of the WAKO Health, Medical and Anti Doping Committee are available for clarifications, in case of need please contact:

Best regards,
WAKO Administration
www.wako.sport


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Montreal, 30 September 2020 – The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) publishes today the 2021 List of Prohibited Substances and Methods (List); the 2021 Summary of Major Modifications and Explanatory Notes; and the 2021 Monitoring Program. The 2021 List, which has been redesigned in order to improve navigation and usability for athletes and their support personnel, was approved by WADA's Executive Committee (ExCo) during its meeting on 14-15 September 2020 and comes into force on 1 January 2021.
 
The List is one of the International Standards that are mandatory for all Signatories of the World Anti-Doping Code (Code). It designates what substances and methods are prohibited both in- and out-of-competition and which substances are banned in particular sports.
 
WADA Director General Olivier Niggli said: "WADA is pleased to publish the 2021 Prohibited List in its newly designed format; which, we believe, will be easier for athletes and their entourage to navigate. We kindly ask athletes, their entourage and all stakeholders to review the List carefully and to take particular note of this year's modifications to avoid inadvertent use of substances and methods that are prohibited in sport for 2021."

"Every year, the List undergoes extensive consultation involving some of the most qualified experts in the fields of science and medicine, including chemistry, endocrinology, haematology and pharmacology. This helps to ensure that any substance or method that may provide performance enhancement, or that may negatively impact athlete health or the spirit of sport, are considered in a timely manner so as to maintain a level playing field for clean athletes."
 
2021 List Redesign
 
As it relates to the List's redesign, the improvements include:

• A table of contents that provides a non-exhaustive list of examples of medical conditions for which substances in the different classes may be prescribed;
• An introduction that defines some terms used in the List;
• Headings in each class indicating which substances or methods are prohibited at all times or in-competition, which classes are specified versus non-specified, and, where applicable, identification of the substances of abuse within a class;
• Well-defined headings for the classes and sub-classes;
• Exceptions and notes within categories that are now more clearly identified; and
• A new index at the end of the document, listing the substances and methods mentioned in the List.

Major Modifications
 
As it relates to modifications, the major ones are outlined below:

• Substances of abuse: During the two-year review process for the 2021 version of the Code, WADA received considerable stakeholder feedback related to substances of abuse where it was felt that the use of some substances included in the List was often unrelated to sport performance. Accordingly, Article 4.2.3 was added to the Code, and cocaine, diamorphine (heroin), methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA/"ecstasy") and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) have been identified as substances of abuse in the 2021 List. This means that if an athlete can demonstrate that the use of any of these four substances was out-of-competition and unrelated to sport performance, the suspension imposed will now be three months and may be reduced to one month if the athlete completes a drug rehabilitation program.
   
• Prohibited Method M2.2: Chemical and physical manipulation: In accordance with the newly introduced Article 4.2.2 in the 2021 Code, it will now be possible to identify a prohibited method as "specified". Accordingly, intravenous infusions and/or injections of more than a total of 100 mL per 12-hour period, except for those legitimately received in the course of hospital treatments, surgical procedures or clinical diagnostic investigations, have now been classified as "specified". This means that an athlete may receive a reduced sanction if it can be proven that this method was not used for doping purposes.

Meanwhile, implementation of the following major modification to the List will come into force on 1 January 2022:

• Glucocorticoids: The draft 2021 List, which was considered by WADA's ExCo during its September 2020 meeting, proposed prohibiting all injectable routes of administration of glucocorticoids in-competition. While this modification was approved, the ExCo asked WADA Management to implement the prohibition on 1 January 2022, to allow enough time for broad communication and education of athletes, their entourage and medical personnel so that there is a better understanding of the practical implementation of washout periods to avoid inadvertent Adverse Analytical Findings. It will also allow WADA-accredited laboratories the time to update their procedures to incorporate the revised and substance-specific reporting values; and, for sports authorities to develop educational tools for athletes, and for medical and support personnel to address the safe use of glucocorticoids for clinical purposes within anti-doping.

List Review Process
 
Every year, the List's revision process is led by WADA, beginning with an initial meeting in January and concluding with the publication of the List by 1 October. This is an extensive consultation process that includes WADA's List Expert Group gathering information including the latest scientific and medical research, trends, and intelligence gathered from law enforcement and pharmaceutical companies; circulating a draft List among stakeholders; taking their submissions into consideration and revising the draft, followed by review by the Agency's Health, Medical and Research (HMR) Committee. The HMR Committee then makes its recommendations to the WADA ExCo, which approves the List during its September meeting.
 
For a substance or method to be added to the List, it must be determined that it meets at least two of the following three criteria:

1. It has the potential to enhance or enhances sport performance
2. It represents an actual or potential health risk to the athletes
3. It violates the spirit of sport

The List is released three months ahead of it taking effect so that athletes and their entourage can acquaint themselves with any modifications. Ultimately, athletes are responsible for prohibited substances found in their body and prohibited methods found to have been used. Athlete entourage are also liable for Anti-Doping Rule Violations if determined to be complicit. Consequently, if there is any doubt as to the status of a substance or method, it is important that they contact their respective Anti-Doping Organization (International Federation or National Anti-Doping Organization) for advice.

It should be noted that for athletes who have a legitimate medical reason for using a prohibited substance or method that is on the List, they may be accommodated if they meet the criteria outlined in the International Standard for Therapeutic Use Exemptions (ISTUE). The TUE Program is a rigorous and necessary part of elite sport which has overwhelming acceptance from athletes, physicians and anti-doping stakeholders.
 
Upcoming Webinar
 
In order to assist stakeholders in their understanding and implementation of the 2021 List, WADA will host a webinar on 29 October 2020 at 7:00 AM EDT entitled: 2021 Prohibited List and beyond. Participants will be taken through the major modifications; as well as, a few key items under review for 2022 by WADA's List Expert Group. Stakeholders wishing to register for the webinar are invited to do so here.
 
Languages and Formats
 
The 2021 Prohibited List; the 2021 Summary of Modifications and Explanatory Notes; and the 2021 Monitoring Program are available for download on WADA's website in English and French with Spanish to follow in the coming weeks.
 
Stakeholders wishing to translate the List into other languages are kindly asked to signal their interest to , by 30 October 2020. WADA would then provide the necessary files and, once the translation is finalized, would make the List available on the Agency's website.
 
The List's mobile-friendly digital edition will go live on 1 January 2021.

WADA ISSUES REVISED 2021 INTERNATIONAL STANDARD FOR THE PROTECTION OF PRIVACY AND PERSONAL INFORMATION

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Published on Friday, 25 September 2020 10:55

Montreal, 24 September 2020 – The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is pleased to publish the revised 2021 International Standard for the Protection of Privacy and Personal Information (ISPPPI), which was approved by WADA's Executive Committee (ExCo) during its 14-15 September 2020 meeting and enters into force on 1 January 2021.

Similar to the 2021 World Anti-Doping Code and other International Standards that enter into force at the same time, the ISPPPI was subject of a three-phase consultation process that resulted in all being approved by the Agency's Foundation Board and ExCo, respectively, during WADA's World Conference on Doping in Sport held in November 2019. Then, on 2 June 2020, WADA launched and communicated a limited supplementary consultation phase for the ISPPPI alone that ended on 2 July.

The revised 2021 ISPPPI contains updates to Articles 4.1, 4.5, 5.3, 11.5 and Annex A. The updates integrate feedback from the 18 comments received during the supplementary consultation phase from six stakeholders, as well as observations from the European Data Protection Board provided to WADA by the Presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 November 2019.

A full summary of these changes can be found on WADA's website.

WADA thanks all contributors for their valuable feedback.

Letter from WAKO Europe Acting Presindent Mr. Istvan Kiraly

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Published on Monday, 21 September 2020 12:52

Dear WAKO Europe Presidents, Coaches, Athletes and officials!

Let me inform you about the events of the WAKO Europe Board in the past few days. I am sure we have all been waiting for a solution to the fate of the Turkish Senior European Championship.

As you all know, we are currently living in the second wave. Sadly, COVID has made every sports activity impossible that would have allowed us to hold the Senior European Championship.

I, as the Acting President of WAKO Europe have been continuously observing your work and I stayed in touch with many of you. I also received a lot of feedback from many of you about the situation in your countries. I also heard about the sad news that the clubs are closing one by one and it was impossible to hold trainings and other than the appropriate social distancing, hygiene and separate trainings, no other movement was possible.

The extent of the damage COVID caused here, in our Kickboxing community does not need to be explained to any of you. Unfortunately, we must all live with this. When I took office as WAKO Europe Acting President after the death of our dear President, Prof. Mr Borislav Pelevic and the subsequent election of Mr Roy Baker to be WAKO IF president, I honestly never imagined that we would happen to find ourselves in the middle of such a situation.

Naturally, as a coach, challenges and fights have been part of my sports life every day. I have fought many battles as a coach, I know what it means to lose and to win as well.

Sadly, we experienced that no matter how strong we are, no matter how well we can hold on, sport has lost in this battle. We have to live with that. However we must never be saddened by it or accept it.

In this incredibly difficult period, I have made it my goal to use my coaching experience and talents as if in a competition when we are facing a stronger opponent and I try to make everyone understand that if we do everything we can, if our preparedness, willpower and knowledge is in the right place, we may lose this battle, but we will win the final one.

As sportsmen, we will always hold our head up high no matter if we won or lost. Dear my Friends, I wish to encourage you that even though COVID has defeated our sport and prevented us from organizing any tournaments this year, and prevented us from coming together and experiencing the wonderful opportunity to see our children succeed with the knowledge they learnt.

Sadly we lost this battle. However, if we are strong and work together, we will definitely win the last battle because a prepared, knowledgeable athlete can only win.

I know what we are like and I know that no matter how tough this year is, we will always be back on our feet in the coming years.

Your power and the power of your athletes, your coaches, your referees and your officials extends beyond a virus and we can all survive this crisis. In a few years, we will look back and remember this as a deep, instructive and sad event and we will work hard to avoid these possibilities so that it can never affect us deeply again.

I wished to tell you this long prologue, because I promised you a result and to present it to you within a limited timeframe. I requested a written resolution from the WAKO Europe Board in which we made our decisions based on your feedback. Most of the countries are unfortunately unable to travel or prepare or both. The majority of our countries are unable to prepare for a competition this year in any way.

Therefore, let me share the decision of the WAKO Europe Board with you. The first important announcement to make is that with the permission of WAKO Europe, we cancelled the Turkish European Championship this year . With your permission and authorization, I conveyed this towards the WAKO IF Board yesterday and let them know about the decision of WAKO Europe.

I have also done a lot of work so that the organizers do not suffer great damage. As I promised you all, I have been contacting the organizers since the last Board meeting. Salim Kayici, the President of the Turkish Federation and Mike Triantafyllou, President of the Greek Federation and Chairman of the Greek Organizing Committee have both demonstrated incredible sportsmanship.

Both of them admitted that everyone has to do something for the other in this situation. I am happy to inform you that I managed to agree with Mike, President of the Greek Federation to postpone his 2022 Championship to 2024 so that Turkey can have the opportunity to organize the Senior European Championship in 2022.

Both presidents have agreed to this decision and so Salim Kayici will not be left without a tournament. I proposed this to the Board and it was voted approved with majority. Therefore, these two agenda items were right after one another. One was to cancel the Turkish European Championship this year and the other was to hold it in 2022 and hold the 2022 Greek European Championship in 2024.

Naturally, this decision went to the WAKO IF Board yesterday. I made my suggestion on the WAKO IF Board meeting and the final decision was the same by the WAKO IF Board.

I ask for your support, your understanding and your assistance. It is great pleasure for me to work with all of you and that so many presidents, coaches, athletes assure me of their support in these difficult times. I still ask you to aid my work with any suggestions or ideas you may have. This is a difficult task for me and I will try to do my best as a person, as a coach and as a leader so that we can make the best out of this situation and to do the best for our sport and our WAKO Family!!

Yours sincerely,

Istvan Kiraly

Acting President - WAKO Europe

Vice President - WAKO

THE COMMITTEE APPROVES REDESIGNED, MORE ATHLETE-FRIENDLY 2021 PROHIBITED LIST

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Published on Wednesday, 16 September 2020 12:24

Montreal, 15 September 2020 – The World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA's) Executive Committee (ExCo) held its third meeting of the year on 14-15 September, during which it received updates on WADA's progress on key priorities and took a number of decisions, including approval of the List of Prohibited Substances and Methods (List) for 2021.
 
WADA is composed of a 38-member Foundation Board (Board), which is the Agency's highest policy-making body, and the 12-person ExCo, to which the Board delegates the management and running of the Agency. The Board and ExCo are composed equally of representatives from the Sports Movement, including athletes, and Governments.
 
The ExCo meeting, which was held virtually due to COVID-19, opened with a moment of silence in memory of former WADA President John Fahey, who passed away on 12 September in Australia at the age of 75. Mr. Fahey served with distinction as President from 2008-13 and will be greatly missed by his colleagues and friends at the Agency.
 
After the meeting, WADA President and Chair of the ExCo Witold Bańka, said: "I am very encouraged by the level of engagement and solidarity that was expressed by Executive Committee members over the past couple of days. Representatives both from Governments and the Sports Movement were united in emphasizing the importance to continue to strengthen WADA and to support it in the delivery of its mission in the service of athletes.
 
"Members of the Executive Committee clearly reiterated their support for the current model of equal partnership between the Governments and Sports Movement that has proven to be successful since WADA was formed 21 years ago. In addition, members expressed their acceptance of the nature and timing of the governance reforms that are being implemented, as well as the way forward for additional reforms to be made in the future.
 
"As we continue to strengthen WADA's governance, the Executive Committee is showing real leadership in ensuring the Agency is equipped to do its job effectively for clean sport around the world."
 
Governance Reforms
 
The ExCo received a progress report on the implementation and timing of WADA's wide-ranging governance reforms, which were approved by the Board in November 2018 and are being introduced according to the agreed schedule.  
 
When the reforms were approved in 2018, the Board indicated that there should be an ongoing review process installed by WADA to monitor the effect of the reforms, as well as to propose additional, appropriate reforms going forward. While the implemented reforms and those in progress are bringing far-reaching improvements to WADA's governance structure, the ExCo has decided to maintain the forward momentum provided by these changes and has agreed to establish an expert Working Group on the Review of WADA Governance Reforms now in order to ensure WADA continues to evolve in line with international best practice.
 
The ExCo agreed that the group would be composed of one independent expert as chairperson, two experts nominated from each of the Sports Movement and the Governments, and one athlete. The composition of this Working Group will be finalized in November this year. Also in November, the Board, which has ultimate authority on governance matters, is scheduled in particular to appoint two independent ExCo members and discuss the ongoing development of a WADA Code of Ethics. As further reforms unfold, there will be broad consultation to allow all stakeholders to contribute to the shape of WADA's governance so as to ensure it remains fit for the future.
 
U.S. ONCDP Report and Rodchenkov Act
 
The ExCo received an update regarding ongoing discussions between WADA and the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) in relation to the possibility of the ONDCP withdrawing its WADA funding unless the Agency agreed to a number of demands related to WADA governance.
 
Mr Bańka said: "It is very important that WADA and the U.S. authorities work together to further strengthen anti-doping and again, I state my willingness to be part of constructive discussions in order to ensure collaboration between the U.S. and the global anti-doping community."
 
There was overwhelming support among ExCo members to maintain the model of equal partnership between the Sports Movement and Governments and, on that basis, for dialogue between WADA and the U.S to be restored.
 
The meeting also received an update on the status of the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act that is currently before the U.S. Senate for consideration. There remain widely held concerns among other governments, the Sports Movement, and other anti-doping stakeholders over the Act's extra-territoriality, its negative unintended consequences and the fact that it was amended specifically to exclude the American professional leagues and college sports, which account for more than half a million athletes within the U.S.
 
COVID-19
 
The ExCo received an update regarding the state of the global anti-doping program during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As restrictions are being lifted in a growing number of countries around the world, more and more Anti-Doping Organizations (ADOs) are resuming their testing programs, following the guidance provided by WADA and the various government and health authorities.
 
WADA Director General Olivier Niggli said: "Following the initial global slowdown, anti-doping work has intensified quickly in recent weeks with more than 11,000 samples collected in July and in excess of 13,000 in August. The Anti-Doping Organizations are to be commended for their hard work at this difficult time as they seek to return their global testing programs to full power. As announced on 9 September, we have established a 10-person Strategic Testing Expert Group that is, among other activities, collecting and assessing feedback from ADOs on their testing programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is important that we build a global picture so that lessons can be learned from this unprecedented time and the global anti-doping community can respond effectively to similar public health crises should they arise in the future."
 
WADA will continue to publish updates regarding its response to COVID-19 as the situation evolves and will formally update the ExCo again at its next meeting in November.
 
Athletes
 
While each Standing Committee Chair reported on the progress achieved in their respective areas of work, WADA's Athlete Committee Chair, Ben Sandford, outlined the work of the Athlete Representation Working Group – a subset of the Athlete Committee – that is looking at ways to further develop athlete representation at WADA, as well as discussions around the concept of an ombudsperson(s) resource for anti-doping and its project that is delivering a series of informational webinars for athletes.
 
WADA's President reported on his initiative to meet regularly with athlete groups, in line with WADA's new five-year Strategic Plan that places athlete engagement at the heart of the organization's activities. Since launching the initiative and despite the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Bańka has managed to hold productive virtual meetings with hundreds of athletes from various athlete commissions worldwide. A key outcome of the exercise will be to establish how to ensure athlete perspectives can best be represented within WADA and how linkages might be improved between these athlete members and their WADA Athlete Committee colleagues, and ultimately all athletes affected by anti-doping.
 
RUSADA
 
The meeting received an update on the current situation with the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA), including the recent dismissal of its Director General, Yuriy Ganus. While RUSADA's appeal of WADA's assertion of non-compliance and related consequences will be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in early November, WADA is communicating with the authorities in Russia to ensure it has all of the information needed to assess the latest situation. WADA continues to monitor closely RUSADA's programs and activities, including testing, to ensure its operational independence is maintained, and will continue to provide regular updates to the Agency's independent Compliance Review Committee.
 
2021 Prohibited List and other International Standards
 
The ExCo approved the 2021 List, which will be published before 1 October 2020, and which will come into effect on 1 January 2021. Updated annually, the List designates what substances and methods are prohibited both in and out of competition under the World Anti-Doping Code (Code). Following input from the WADA Athlete Committee, the List has undergone a dynamic redesign that has also made it more user-friendly and easier to navigate for athletes.
 
Beyond approval of the 2021 List, which contains minor changes from the current 2020 List, the ExCo approved the revised International Standard for Laboratories and International Standard for the Protection of Privacy and Personal Information that were subject to public consultation and will also come into force on 1 January 2021.

Research Grants 
 
The ExCo approved funding recommendations for research proposals for WADA's 2020 call for scientific research grants. A total of 19 projects were selected for funding amounting to USD 2,585,833. Details of these projects will be published on WADA's website in the coming months once the individual contracts are signed.
 
Policy for Acceptance of New Code Signatories
 
The ExCo approved a revised policy for the acceptance of new Signatories to the Code, which will be applied by WADA as per Article 23.1.3 of the revised Code when it comes into effect on 1 January 2021. The revision is intended to enable more organizations that are committed to protecting clean athletes, regardless of their status within the Sports Movement, to become Signatories.
 
Social Science Research
 
The ExCo approved the Social Science Research Strategy 2020-24, which was developed by WADA in collaboration with the Social Science Research Review Panel and overseen by the Education Committee. The strategy widens the scope of WADA's social science research activities, moving these beyond a grant program and enhancing the benefits that social science research can bring to the efforts of the anti-doping community to protect clean sport.
 
WADA will publish the new Social Science Research Strategy 2020-24, as well as the other documents approved by the ExCo and mentioned above, in the coming weeks.