WADA launches webinar series for athletes

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has announced the launch of a series of athlete-led webinars to be held over the coming months.

This series, which is an initiative of WADA’s Athlete Committee, is intended to provide a platform for interactive engagement by the Agency with athletes worldwide on anti-doping matters.

The first webinar, titled COVID-19 and Clean Sport, will be held on 3 July at 09:00 EDT; and, will focus on the impact of COVID-19 on athletes and the anti-doping system.

The panelists will include the following athletes and experts: Ben Sandford - Chair, WADA Athlete Committee; Dr. Alan Vernec - Medical Director, WADA; Dr. Andrea Gotzmann - Chairwoman of the Executive Board, National Anti-Doping Agency of Germany; Benjamin Cohen - Director General, International Testing Agency and Tim Ricketts - Director, Standards & Harmonization, WADA.

These panelists will engage participants on the following topics:

• The current situation in relation to testing

• What athletes can expect may be modified with respect to health and safety protections as testing ramps up again

• How Anti-Doping Organisations are innovating and maintaining other elements of their detection and deterrence programmes in the face of reduced testing

Athletes are invited to register for the first webinar, by clicking here. Anti-Doping Organisations, worldwide, are encouraged to relay this announcement to their athletes.

End May, WADA and its Athlete Committee published a Q&A document for athletes on COVID-19 to update them about the evolving situation related to the protection of athlete health and how clean sport can persevere during these challenging times.

The first webinar will be a continuation of these efforts as WADA and its Athlete Committee strive to ensure that as many athletes as possible are informed about this evolving topic.

“Despite the many challenges athletes are facing as a result of COVD-19, we want to provide assurance that anti-doping is not at a standstill,” said Sandford.

“WADA’s Athlete Committee wants to provide athletes with up-to-date information about the impact that COVID-19 is having on Clean Sport; and, we also need to continue to hear from athletes about what specifically concerns them and how we may be able to address those concerns.

“Beginning with the topic of COVID-19, we hope that this series of webinars will be an effective platform to share information and hear from athletes about how we can best support them and further improve the global anti-doping system.”