After the first reading of the report of the Independent Commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) into serious allegations against the Russian Athletics Federation, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) and the Russian anti-doping laboratory will be charged. Only limited releases of the accusations against the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) have been made, due to possible criminal relevance and the related investigations currently taking place through Interpol.

The report is currently being evaluated and analysed, however already we can foresee that the implementation of internationally valid anti-doping rules are not at a comparable level worldwide. However, this is essential in order to guarantee the most important task of anti-doping work: to protect the clean athletes.

In recent years, NADA Austria has taken an active role in the development and improvement of anti-doping work. From the perspective of NADA Austria, below are summarised some of the short, medium and long-term consequences:

• Doping tests, analysis and sanctions must be carried out by fully independent organisations. The Austrian method of using an independent Anti-Doping Agency and an independent legal and arbitration commission applies here in an international context as exemplary. An amendment to the Anti-Doping Federal Act, which entered into force on 1 January 2015, created a strong foundation for our anti-doping work.
• The national and international sports organisations can therefore concentrate fully on the preventive anti-doping work in the sense of information, education and awareness raising. The financial resources currently used by sports organisations for anti-doping work must be made available to independent organisations.
• The compliance system of WADA must be strengthened. A review must take place not only on paper, but also in the form of random or targeted on-site inspections. Countries that do not meet the requirements of the World Anti-Doping Code and related International Standards should be sanctioned accordingly.
• In addition to national and regional anti-doping agencies, an international doping control needs to be provided – on the one hand to strengthen the national doping control programs, but on the other hand to reveal potential undesirable developments in these programs.
• Improved cooperation is needed between sports and criminal investigation bodies, and the whistleblowing system needs strengthening.
• Prevention programs need to be expanded, not only for (young) athletes, but also for all individuals from their environment (coaches, trainers, parents, teachers, officials, doctors, etc.).

• This media release was originally published on the Austrian National Anti-Doping Agency’s (NADA) internet site on 10 November. To access the original, please click here.