Further to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA’s) Executive Committee (ExCo) meeting of 11 September 2025, WADA have provided an update regarding the ExCo’s decision to endorse the recommendation of WADA’s independent Compliance Review Committee (CRC) to add the Comité National Lutte Antidopage de Côte d’Ivoire (Côte d’Ivoire NADO) to the compliance ‘watchlist’.
The Côte d’Ivoire NADO was added to the ‘watchlist’ in relation to its failure to address non-conformities identified through the Code Compliance Questionnaire (CCQ) exercise.
As per the International Standard for Code Compliance by Signatories (ISCCS), by adding the Côte d’Ivoire NADO to the ‘watchlist’, the ExCo gave the NADO four additional months to execute their corrective action plan.
At the expiration of the ‘watchlist’ period on 11 January 2026, the non-conformities have not been satisfactorily addressed. Therefore, as per Article 9.2.3 of the ISCCS, on 12 January 2026 WADA sent the Côte d’Ivoire NADO a formal notice of non-compliance.
The Côte d’Ivoire NADO now has 21 days following the date of receipt of the formal notice, to dispute WADA’s allegation of non-compliance, and/or the consequences, and/or the conditions of reinstatement proposed by the Agency, or accept the allegation of non-compliance, in line with Article 9.3.1 of the ISCCS.
The decision (including the consequences) will therefore, enter into force on 3 February 2026, unless the decision is challenged by 2 February 2026 at midnight (EST).
The purpose of this communication is to provide sufficient time for Signatories to prepare in case the consequences do come into effect on 3 February 2026.
In the meantime, the consequences do not apply, and WADA will update Signatories on or around 2 February 2026, as needed.
Meet the Author (s)
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), founded in 1999, oversees the World Anti-Doping Code, which standardises anti-doping rules across all sports and nations, while also focusing on research, education, and building anti-doping capacity to ensure athletes compete in a clean, doping-free environment.
