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WADA Athlete Council and NADO Expert Advisory Group elect Chairs, Vice-Chairs and members to sit on the Foundation Board

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is pleased to announce that its Athlete Council and National Anti-Doping Organization (NADO) Expert Advisory Group (EAG) have completed their establishment by electing their Chairs, Vice-Chairs and other key positions.

In addition to the Chairs and Vice-Chairs of these two bodies, important governance positions have thus been filled, including the Agency’s Executive Committee seat reserved to the Chair of the Athlete Council; and, the Agency’s Foundation Board seats allocated to two representatives of the Athlete Council and two representatives of the NADO EAG. The four new members of the Foundation Board will be formally inducted once the revised WADA Statutes that reflect the Agency’s latest round of governance reforms have been officially approved by the Foundation Board and the Swiss authorities.

WADA President Witold Bańka said: “I would like to congratulate WADA’s new Executive Committee and Foundation Board Members elected by and from the Agency’s Athlete Council and NADO Expert Advisory Group. The Agency is strengthened significantly by embedding more athlete and NADO representation into our governance structure and decision-making process.  I look forward to welcoming our new Members around the table and benefitting from their valuable insight as we lead our global collaborative mission for doping-free sport.”

Athlete Council

As part of a series of governance reforms designed to strengthen athletes’ representation within the Agency, WADA’s new 20-member Athlete Council has elected its Chair (who will sit on the Executive Committee); its Vice-Chair; and two members to sit on the Foundation Board, including one seat reserved for a para-athlete, as follows:

  1. Ryan Pini (Swimming, Papua New Guinea): Athlete Council Chair and Executive Committee Member
  2. Gaby Ahrens (Shooting, Namibia): Athlete Council Vice-Chair and deputy to the Chair on the Executive Committee
  3. Patrick O’Leary (Paracanoe, Ireland): Foundation Board Member
  4. Yuhan Tan (Badminton, Belgium): Foundation Board Member

On 4 January 2023, WADA published the Athlete Council’s complete membership, which is composed of athletes’ representatives chosen by fellow athletes, through three distinct appointment and election procedures.

The Athlete Council will also be in charge of appointing athlete representatives to other WADA bodies, which appointments will be announced in due course.

NADO EAG

As part of WADA’s governance reforms that sought to increase the representativeness of the Foundation Board, the NADO EAG has elected its Chair and Vice-Chair, who will both sit on the Foundation Board, as follows:

  1. Kim Kum-pyoung (Korea Anti-Doping Agency): NADO EAG Chair and Foundation Board Member
  2. Michael Cepic (NADA Austria): NADO EAG Vice-Chair and Foundation Board Member

The NADO EAG was recently reformed to be comprised of ten elected representatives, with two from each of the five regions (Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania).

Should you have any questions regarding WADA’s Executive Committee or Foundation Board, please feel free to direct them to governance@wada-ama.org.

Questions regarding the Athlete Council can be directed to Stuart Kemp, Chief Operating Officer at stuart.kemp@wada-ama.org.

Questions regarding the NADO EAG can be directed to Tom May, Director, NADO/RADO Relations at tom.may@wada-ama.org