This week, the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA’s) Executive Committee (ExCo) and Foundation Board (Board) met in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where members discussed and took decisions on several matters that are key to strengthening the global anti-doping system.   

Yesterday, WADA published a media release following the ExCo meeting, which unanimously approved recommendations of the Working Group that was set up by the ExCo in September to implement the observations made by Independent Prosecutor Eric Cottier and World Aquatics concerning WADA’s handling of the no-fault contamination cases of Chinese swimmers in 2021. 

WADA President Witold Bańka said: “Over the past two days in Riyadh, we had excellent discussions at the Executive Committee and Foundation Board levels, focused on mapping the way forward for WADA and the global anti-doping system. We are very grateful to the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for its hospitality in hosting these meetings of WADA’s most important governing bodies and to the Saudi Arabian Anti-Doping Control Committee for championing the clean sport agenda throughout this region. 

“Today, we were pleased that the Foundation Board echoed the support of the Executive Committee regarding the recommendations of the Working Group set up to implement the observations of the Cottier Report. They also encouraged WADA to continue its leadership of the global movement for doping-free sport, which relies on collaboration among partners and harmonization of anti-doping rules across all sports and all countries. I urge us all to work in a positive spirit towards WADA’s World Conference on Doping in Sport in Busan, Republic of Korea from 1-5 December 2025. Together we can ensure that the global anti-doping system goes further to protect athletes’ fundamental right to participate in doping-free sport.” 

2025-2029 Strategic Plan 

The Board approved WADA’s latest Strategic Plan (2025-2029) under the theme ‘Going further together’, following a 16-month stakeholder consultation process to ensure the development of a common understanding of the progress made to date and decide which priorities to target for the next five years. The Plan sets a clear direction for the Agency so it can deliver on its primary role of developing, harmonizing, and coordinating anti-doping rules and policies across all sports and countries. It is an evolution of the 2020-2024 version that builds on recent achievements while also recognizing the challenges faced since 2020.  

Through the Plan, which will be published in January 2025, WADA will:  

• Lead – ensuring harmonized standards that elevate the global anti-doping system  
• Grow Impact – maximizing the effect of clean sport programs 
• Be athlete-centered – putting athletes at the heart of everything it does  
• Collaborate – engaging and uniting stakeholders to protect clean sport  
• Perform – striving for greater efficiency of the global anti-doping system and internal processes  

  Concretely, over the next five years, WADA will focus on:  

• Advancing science and innovation together with its network of partners and experts to stay ahead of the evolving landscape of performance-enhancing substances and methods;  
• Strengthening collaboration with stakeholders across sport, government, and law enforcement to create a global network of clean sport;  
• Adopting a prevention mindset by enhancing values-based education programs to empower athletes, coaches, and support personnel with the knowledge they need to stay clean;  
• Supporting National Anti-Doping Organizations (NADOs), particularly in developing countries, to ensure that the fight against doping in sport is truly global;  
• Better leveraging data and strategically developing its digital assets, which will help deliver insights to improve the effectiveness of the global anti-doping system; and  
• Working closely with its Athlete Council in promoting the voices of athletes on anti-doping issues.  

Paralympian in the sport of paracanoe and WADA Athlete Council representative on the Board, Patrick O’Leary, said: “The Athlete Council welcomes WADA’s 2025-2029 Strategic Plan, in particular WADA’s ongoing commitment to being athlete focused and the inclusion of important athlete initiatives such as the Athletes’ Anti-Doping Ombuds Program and the Initial Human Rights Impact Assessment. We were extremely pleased to have been consulted throughout the process that has allowed us to align our Action Plan’s goals to those of WADA.”  

2027 World Anti-Doping Code and International Standards Update Process 

The ExCo and Board were updated regarding WADA’s 2027 World Anti-Doping Code (Code) and International Standards Update Process, which launched in September 2023 and will culminate with approval of the updated documents at WADA’s World Conference and entry into force on 1 January 2027. 

Commenting on the Strategic Plan and the Code and Standards Update Process, WADA Director General, Olivier Niggli, said: “Both of these matters are extremely important – not only for shaping the future of WADA but, more importantly, for ensuring the ongoing success of the entire anti-doping system. Our new Strategic Plan, which represents a bold vision for the future, is built off the solid foundation of our previous Plan and involves program consolidation as we focus on ways to innovate and increase efficiencies across the board. The 2027 Code and Standards are also being built off a solid foundation. I would encourage all of us to concentrate our efforts on delivering on these important forward-looking activities that will lead to a more effective, efficient and harmonized fight against doping in sport for the next generations of athletes that are counting on us.” 

Budget   

The Board approved two versions of the 2025 WADA Budget. The first version is the full budget that was endorsed by the Finance and Adminstration (F&A) Committee in June and includes the 2025 contribution from the Government of the Russian Federation. Recognizing that WADA did not receive its contribution in 2023, the second version excludes the 2025 Russian contribution. The first version of the budget is USD 57.5 million from all sources of funding while the amount without the Russian dues will be USD 54.7 million (USD 1.4 million from Russia combined with the match payment that comes from the Sport Movement, leading to a potential shortfall of USD 2.8 million).  

WADA Management will initially work with the reduced budget for the coming year but will retain the full budget as a secondary plan. This will allow WADA to be more flexible and react strategically and operationally in the event that the contribution levels improve. Whenever a government does not successfully pay its contribution, WADA is forced to consider austerity measures that impact all its activities, inevitably affecting all stakeholders, including athletes and Anti-Doping Organizations (ADOs).  

The ExCo and Board also discussed the potential fallout should the United States Government decide to voluntarily withhold its annual contribution to WADA for 2024, as has been suggested. 

Commenting on this point, former Olympian in the sport of badminton and WADA Athlete Council representative on the Board, Yuhan Tan, said: “It is so important for athletes that WADA is properly resourced and that it has certainty around the funds it receives. I call on all governments to fulfill their commitments and make their annual contributions to WADA in a predictable and timely fashion so the work upholding the World Anti-Doping Code and supporting athletes around the world can continue. Clearly, anti-doping is becoming more and more politicized, which must be avoided as it puts all athletes and the entire system at risk.” 

Compliance with the World Anti-Doping Code  

The ExCo followed the recommendation of the Compliance Review Committee (CRC) to place the Spanish NADO (CELAD) on the compliance ‘watchlist’, giving it an additional four months to correct outstanding non-conformities.  

The non-conformities in this case come from two sources, namely a review of the NADO’s anti-doping program that identified some critical non-conformities in testing, and a review of a newly adopted government decree, which had not been provided to WADA for review prior to coming into force and which was found not to be compatible with the Code. Following extensive consultation, CELAD has provided a plan for implementation of the required remedies within four months (by 4 April 2025) therefore meeting the criteria of the ‘watchlist’ as stated in Article 8.4.5 of the International Standard for Code Compliance by Signatories (ISCCS). By being placed on the ‘watchlist’, if CELAD fails to correct its outstanding non-conformities within the timeline, as per Article 8.4.5 of the ISCCS, WADA shall automatically send CELAD a formal notice alleging non-compliance and proposing consequences and reinstatement conditions.  

During his report to the ExCo and Board, CRC Chair Henry Gourdji confirmed that the South African NADO (SAIDS) had fulfilled its outstanding critical corrective action that had led it to be alleged non-compliant with the Code on 22 September 2023. SAIDS had not accepted that decision, so WADA had referred the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. But now that WADA is satisfied that the necessary action is being taken by SAIDS, it is pleased to withdraw its claim, with SAIDS agreeing to bear the full arbitration costs sustained so far, along with half of WADA’s legal costs. 

Scientific Research Grants 

The ExCo approved the funding recommendation of the Health, Medical and Research (HMR) Committee identifying 13 research projects for the second cycle of the 2024 call for grants. From a group of 33 full applications, the 13 projects have been selected with grants now approved totaling USD 952,001. 

The total scientific research budget allocated in 2024 is USD 4.5 million with more than USD 1.4 million having already been approved and allocated in the first cycle by the ExCo at its meeting in September. The remaining funds will be used to support identified targeted projects in areas such as erythropoietin (EPO), growth hormone, gene doping, research impact, contaminants, dried blood spot, artificial intelligence and reference materials. 

The final list of approved projects will be published in due course, pending contractual negotiations and the standard independent ethical review. 

Composition of 2025 Board, ExCo and Other Committees   

In accordance with WADA’s Statutes, the Board today approved the composition of the ExCo for 2025. Board composition approval will take place by circulatory vote early in the new year for the Swiss authorities’ registration purposes. The full compositions of both the 16-member ExCo and the 42-member Board for 2025 will be published in due course. 

Following a thorough process of nomination and consideration, on Wednesday the ExCo approved some new and renewed members of each of the three Standing Committees for 2025, namely the Education Committee, the F&A Committee and the HMR Committee. In addition, in preparation for a number of upcoming terms coming due on WADA’s Permanent Special Committees between January and May 2025, some membership renewals and/or changes were approved for the CRC, Independent Ethics Board and Nominations Committee.  

An election process for some members of the Athlete Council (Group 2) is currently underway, to be completed and announced before the end of the year.    

Combining all eight of WADA’s Standing and Permanent Special Committees for 2025, at this time there are a total of 71 members (38 women and 33 men), with 39 countries represented from all five continents. There are 27 athlete representatives with seats on the various committees. This is in addition to there being almost half of members on the ExCo and Board being active or former international-level athletes. The full list of 2025 Standing and Permanent Special Committee members will be published shortly. 

Athlete Passport Management Unit (APMU) 

The ExCo decided to endorse a recommendation of WADA’s Science and Medicine Department to grant approval for the national Dope Testing Laboratory in New Delhi, India, to manage Athlete Biological Passports (ABP) as a WADA-approved unit. 

In 2022, the New Delhi anti-doping laboratory in India expressed its desire to host a WADA-approved APMU. An initial application was not successful but following the implementation of a number of modifications and improvements, the WADA ABP experts now consider that the laboratory satisfactorily meets the requirements. 

Since December 2019, 16 APMUs have been approved by WADA and are currently managing the ABP programs of 284 ADOs.   

Other Board Decisions   

The Board approved amendments to WADA’s Code of Ethics and Governance Regulations, which will be published shortly.  

Other Board Updates  

The Board received annual updates from all of WADA’s Permanent Special Committees and Standing Committees. It also heard reports from the Institute of National Anti-Doping Organizations (iNADO), International Testing Agency (ITA) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).   

Future Meetings and Events  

• 18-19 March 2025 – WADA Annual Symposium (Lausanne, Switzerland) 
• 27 March 2025 – ExCo meeting (virtual)  
• 29 May 2025 – extraordinary meeting of the Board to elect President and Vice-President for terms starting on 1 January 2026 (virtual)  
• September 2025 (exact date to be confirmed) – ExCo meeting (Prague, Czechia) 
• 1-5 December 2025 – World Conference on Doping in Sport, including ExCo and Board meetings (Busan, Republic of Korea).