A Second Candidate for WADA President

(ATR) A second candidate has come forward to replace Craig Reedie as WADA president next year.

Polish sports minister and WADA executive committee member Witold Banka announced his candidacy on Tuesday in an interview with AFP.

His views on how the World Anti-Doping Agency should deal with the fallout from the Russian doping scandal offer a clear option to those of the other candidate, 40-year-old Norwegian Minister for Children and Equalities Linda Helleland.

Helleland, a WADA vice president who entered the race last month, says she is not willing to compromise on the terms WADA has set for the return of Russia to compliance with anti-doping rules and standards. WADA says the Russian anti-doping system is still noncompliant because Moscow refuses to agree to two conditions set by WADA, including publicly accepting the findings of the McLaren reports that showed evidence of a state-sponsored doping system in place in Russia from 2011 to 2015. In the meantime, the Russian anti-doping agency RUSADA remains suspended.

Banka, 33, is a former athlete who thinks it’s time to work out a new way forward.Around the Ringsis told that he wants to find a middle ground between those who are in favor of immediate reinstatement of RUSADA and those who want to see RUSADA remain non-compliant until all the conditions are met.

"We need a long-term solution for Russia as it seems that we have already reached a dead end. I don’t believe that meeting by Russia both remaining conditions from the roadmap is realistic," Banka told AFP.

"On the other hand, we have to be 100% convinced that Russian anti-doping system is reliable again before we even think about reinstating RUSADA. It is crucial to make sure that all the Russian athletes are under the same doping control regime that all the other athletes are. Therefore, I think we need to agree on a new set of conditions for reinstatement of RUSADA, more operational, measurable and objective."

Other hallmarks of Banka’s agenda include the creation of an independent WADA solidarity fund, supported by sponsors, sports federations and governments, to strengthen anti-doping systems in the countries where they are weakest. He also wants a better worldwide balance of WADA-accredited laboratories, which currently are concentrated in Europe.

Reedie, 77, IOC member in Great Britain, is set to step down in 2019 with the completion of his second three-year mandate. With the WADA presidency rotating between sport and government, both Banka and Helleland qualify to run since they are government ministers. The full 38 member WADA foundation board will cast the vote that selects the new president.

Written by Gerard Farek

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