Good Governance in anti-doping the preeminent issue at iNADO 2021 Annual General Assembly

: The Institute of National Anti-Doping Organizations (iNADO) held

the ninth edition of its Annual General Meeting (AGM) for its 59 National and 14 Regional AntiDoping Organization members via virtual teleconference today.

The meeting was held virtually for the second consecutive occasion, due to the Covid-19 global

pandemic. Headlining the meeting was a presentation on the opportunity provided to National AntiDoping Organizations (NADOs) by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to submit to its

Governance Review. The iNADO Chair, Michael Ask, stated the three main principles where iNADO

wished to see reform of WADA were:

1. The Foundation Board must be representative of a wider group of stakeholders.

2. The Executive Committee should be composed of more independent experts.

3. An independent monitoring mechanism should be established. For the Foundation Board to

conduct this task with credibility, a strict separation of the roles and people between the

Foundation Board and Executive Committee should be implemented.

In concluding this section of the meeting, the iNADO Chair reiterated the NADOs’ view that a strong

WADA, that lives up to the highest good governance principles, is a prerequisite for trust in the antidoping system moving forwards.

Another key topic of the meeting was the iNADO Chair’s report on the importance of iNADO being

an influential international voice for NADOs and Regional Anti-Doping Organizations (RADOs),

whereby they can influence policy and decision-making. Central to this discussion was the

agreement that iNADO - and the NADO and RADO community as a whole - would continue to

support, and advocate for the principle of greater independence in anti-doping. It was agreed that

greater independence is seen as an essential ingredient for the anti-doping movement to restore

the faith of athletes and athletes’ entourages.

At the meeting, iNADO also elected seven new Governing Board members, whose terms will run for

a period of three years. The seven members confirmed at the meeting were:

• Michael Ask (re-elected)

Michael Ask is head of the Danish Anti-Doping Agency since 2015 and became chair of the iNADO

Board in 2017.

• Teemu Japisson

Teemu Japisson took over the position as Secretary General of the Finnish Center for Integrity in

Sports in 2019. Teemu has extensive experience in national and international sports.

• Tony Josiah

Tony Josiah is the Head of International and Stakeholder Relations at United Kingdom Anti-Doping.

Tony has more than twenty years of experience in the field of anti-doping.

• Lars Mortsiefer (re-elected)

Lars Mortsiefer, Legal Director and member of the Executive Board of the National AntiDoping Agency of Germany has been elected for his second term on the iNADO

Governing Board.

• Antonio Jules Nunes

Antonio Nunes is the current Chief Executive Officer of the Portuguese Anti-Doping Authority and a

former professional athlete.

• Nick Paterson (re-elected)

Nick Paterson, the Chief Executive Officer of Drug Free Sport New Zealand, has been a member of

iNADO's Governing Board for the last two years.

• Lindsey Stafford

Lindsey Stafford is the Testing and Athlete Services Manager of the United States Anti-Doping

Agency. As a testing expert Lindsey has 12 years of experience in the field of anti-doping.

In his Report to members, iNADO CEO, Jorge Leyva, stressed the importance the NADO

community places on making athletes part of decision-making processes. This is, Leyva confirmed,

necessary "to provide them with protection of their rights and to ensure sport is sustainable in the

long term".

"iNADO is delighted to welcome its seven Governing Board members, who will help steer iNADO

and the NADO and RADO community in the years ahead, and in this new era as we start to emerge

from the global pandemic," said iNADO CEO Jorge Leyva.

"With the important WADA Governance Review, this is an exciting time to strengthen the antidoping movement, to ensure it is more athlete-centered, independent and can uphold the trust of

the sporting world. The iNADO team looks forward to working with the Board in the months and

years ahead," he added.

Participants also learnt about the work iNADO had progressed in promoting best practices amongst

members; particularly, that with a new capability register just released, that iNADO had taken "a

giant leap in giving members a concrete tool that can be used in their daily work" to use resources

intelligently and across borders.

It was confirmed that iNADO had undergone a full transition from a UK-based into a German-based

organization. The iNADO CEO also ran members through a state of the organization’s finances,

including 2020 Financial Statements.

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