The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has announced that its Foundation Board selected Johannesburg, South Africa, to host the Fourth World Conference on Doping in Sport in late 2013.
“The Fourth World Conference will be an important opportunity to take stock of how far the fight against doping has come and to identify its next critical tasks,” said WADA President John Fahey following meetings of WADA’s Executive Committee and Foundation Board over two days.
“The World Conference will be the culmination of the next review of the World Anti-Doping Code (Code), which we will launch in 2012 based on the consultative model of the first Code review process conducted in 2006-2007.
"We look forward to working with the city of Johannesburg to prepare and host the event, and we thank all bid cities for their interest and the quality of their submissions.”
In addition to Johannesburg, WADA had also received formal bids from Dallas, United States, and Sochi, Russia. Kuwait City, Kuwait, and Ljubljana, Slovenia, withdrew their bids.
The First World Conference, held in Lausanne, Switzerland, in February 1999, conceived the idea of an independent international agency to assume responsibility for coordinating and monitoring the fight against doping in sport and led to the birth of WADA in November 1999.
At the Second World Conference, held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in March 2003, the final draft of the World Anti-Doping Code – the document harmonizing anti-doping rules in all sports and all countries of the world – was unanimously approved by representatives from governments and the sports movement.
The Third World Conference, held in Madrid in November 2007, marked the adoption of the revised World Anti-Doping Code following a broad and open consultation process.
Research
In other matters, the Executive Committee approved ten new social science research projects for funding. WADA’s Social Science Research Program aims to support the design of preventive anti-doping education programs using an evidence-based approach.
“It is essential that WADA’s anti-doping programs and initiatives be based on scientific knowledge and evidence,” said WADA Director General David Howman.
“Understanding the behavioural aspects and value judgments behind doping help us to further develop and disseminate strong values-based anti-doping education programs.”
WADA received 25 applications, from 21 countries, for its Program this year. The Agency will commit US$307,000 to the ten projects selected.
The Executive Committee approved an additional US$100,000 for target research in 2010. Since the creation of the Social Science Research Program in 2005, 34 projects have already been funded, totaling over US$1 million.
Budget
The Foundation Board approved US$26.4 million for WADA’s 2011 budget, representing a minor increase of two percent from the 2010 budget. This minor increase is the result of the development of projects such as the Athlete Biological Passport, the Anti-Doping Administration & Management System (ADAMS) and WADA’s growing role in non-analytical doping cases.
The Board was updated on the status of WADA’s funding. To date, for the third consecutive year, the Agency has received 98% of its annual budget. WADA is funded in equal parts by the Olympic Movement and governments of the world.
The International Olympic Committee, on behalf of the Olympic Movement, matches dollar for dollar contributions made by governments.
“I am very pleased with the timely fulfillment of financial commitment of WADA stakeholders,” said Mr. Fahey. “This timeliness underlines our stakeholders’ strong support for our mission to preserve the integrity of sport.”
Meetings
The next meetings of WADA’s Executive Committee and Foundation Board will be held on May 14-15, 2011, respectively, in Montreal.