Reminder: WADA is Soliciting Feedback

Montreal, 11 January 2019

Dear Colleagues,

On 10 December 2018, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) launched the third phase of the 2021 World Anti-Doping Code (Code) Review Process; the second phase for the International Standards; and, the first and only phase for the Anti-Doping Charter of Athlete Rights (Charter).

Today, WADA wishes to remind stakeholders, in particular athletes, that the Agency is soliciting feedback on the Charter by 4 March 2019; and that, it is now available for review in English, French and Spanish.

The goal of the Charter, which was developed by WADA’s Athlete Committee, is to clearly outline athlete rights with respect to the fight against doping in sport. While athletes’ responsibilities towards clean sport are set out in the Code, the Charter aims to further support athletes worldwide in their right to compete in clean, ethical and fair sport.

The Charter is a standalone document. This latest draft includes a section containing 'actual' rights and a section containing 'aspirational' rights, with the 'actual rights' being referenced to the relevant sections of the Code or the International Standards.

The idea of developing the Charter was first tested by WADA’s Athlete Committee at WADA’s Annual Symposium in March 2017. After being well received by Symposium participants, the Committee followed up by conducting a global athlete survey as to its desired content. Since then, the Committee has presented the Charter for discussion and feedback at various WADA events in 2018; including, the Annual Symposium in March; the first Global Athlete Forum in June; the Executive Committee and Foundation Board meetings in November; and, various meetings of the Code Drafting Team before being launched for feedback on 10 December 2018.

WADA encourages all stakeholders to ask their athlete committees and other athlete representatives to participate in this consultation.

TO SUBMIT FEEDBACK

As indicated above, we would ask athletes and other interested stakeholders to propose recommendations no later than 4 March 2019 via WADAConnect, the Agency’s online consultation platform. Easy to use, WADAConnect will prompt you to create a user account and input your comments regarding aspects of the Charter that are of particular interest to you. For more information related to WADAConnect, please refer to the simple user guide.

Please note that, in the interest of transparency, WADA will publish all comments on its website at the end of the consultation phase; and that, unless otherwise notified, the name and organization of the person who commented will be posted along with the comments.

Should you have any questions on the Charter, please do not hesitate to contact WADA’s Athlete Committee at athletecharter@wada-ama.org.

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