• Amounts will be matched by the International Olympic Committee, doubling the investment to almost US$5.2 million
• Funds will support WADA’s enhanced activities in the areas of scientific research and investigations

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) today welcomes additional contributions totaling close to US$2.6 million from the Governments of China, Egypt, India and Saudi Arabia, which will be dedicated to the Agency’s scientific research and intelligence and investigations (I&I) activities. The contributions are additional to the Governments’ annual contributions to WADA’s regular budget, which are matched by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on behalf of the Sports Movement, and are part of an initiative announced in November 2019 by IOC President Thomas Bach to further strengthen WADA’s scientific research and I&I programs. Under this initiative, additional contributions provided by Governments are matched by the IOC, which means that these contributions will yield almost US$5.2 million extra for the global anti-doping system.

WADA President Witold Bańka said: “This is a massive boost for WADA and for Clean Sport. The Agency is grateful to the Governments of China, Egypt, India and Saudi Arabia for supporting the protection of sport in this way. These generous contributions can be seen as a strong commitment from these nations and will be put to good use enhancing scientific research, as well as the work of WADA’s independent Intelligence and Investigations Department. Both areas have delivered significant achievements in recent years and these additional resources will contribute greatly towards WADA’s mission for doping-free sport.

“Thanks are of course also due to the IOC for launching this initiative and generously matching these amounts, ensuring that every dollar invested by Governments brings two dollars into the system. This collaborative initiative is proving to be very successful and demonstrates the strength of the partnership between the Sports Movement and Public Authorities when it comes to anti-doping. I encourage other Governments to take advantage of this opportunity that the IOC has offered.”

Specifically, the Government of India has pledged an additional US$1 million, Saudi Arabia US$500,000 and Egypt US$100,000, while WADA has already received the US$992,694 pledged by the Chinese Government. China, Saudi Arabia and Egypt have previously made similar additional contributions and, in the past four years, outside of this particular initiative, WADA has also received additional contributions from the Governments of Australia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Denmark, France, Japan, Kuwait, Poland and the USA, as well as three different levels of Government in Canada, the City of Lausanne and the Canton de Vaud in Switzerland.

• This media release was published by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on 2 December 2020. Click here for the original.