WADA engages with young athletes at 2025 Asian Youth Games in Bahrain

This week, the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA’s) Athlete Engagement (AE) team was in Manama, Bahrain, to promote clean sport during the third edition of the Asian Youth Games (Bahrain 2025).  

WADA’s AE team was on site in the Athletes Hub during Bahrain 2025, which ran from 22-31 October. Organized by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), Bahrain 2025 featured more than 4,000 athletes between the ages of 14 and 17, representing 45 OCA member countries and competing across 24 sports.  

Director of WADA’s Asia/Oceania Office, Dr. YaYa Yamamoto, said: “It was a pleasure to be in Bahrain to promote clean sport and engage with the youth athletes who took part in this edition of the Asian Youth Games. We are very grateful for the invitation from the Olympic Council of Asia, which has been a strong, longstanding partner, and understands the importance of engaging with athletes from a young age so that they feel supported in their sporting career with clean sport values in mind. It was also important to engage with support personnel, to ensure that they can properly support their athletes’ journeys. Bahrain 2025 allowed young athletes from the region to connect with the WADA Athlete Engagement team to ask questions and share their passion for clean sport. These types of interactions are key in setting a strong foundation for the participants that they can lean on at future international sporting events and their future career.”  

The AE program aimed to raise clean sport awareness and to promote the importance of being ‘One Play True Team’. The program also includes a legacy aspect thanks to the banners and promotional resources that will be left behind with the Bahrain National Anti-Doping Organization (BNADO) to be used for future engagement activities in the country.  

Along with Dr. Yamamoto, the athlete-led team included:    

• Dr. Ahmed Al-Aradi (Bahrain), Asian and world champion in Jiu-Jitsu, trauma and orthopedic surgeon and clean sport ambassador for BNADO;  
• Husein Alireza (Saudi Arabia), Olympian in rowing (Tokyo 2020), member of the OCA Athlete Council and Athlete Commission member for Team Saudi; 
• Mudhawy Alshemmeri (Kuwait), Olympic sprinter (Tokyo 2020), Kuwait’s 100-meter dash national record holder, Athlete Committee member of Kuwait National Olympic Committee and clean sport ambassador for the Kuwait National Anti-Doping Agency; 
• Amantur Ismailov (Kyrgyzstan), Olympian in men's Greco-Roman wrestling (Paris 2024) and clean sport ambassador for the Kyrgyzstan NADO; 
• Mathivani Murugeesan (Malaysia), three-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist in Karate Kumite, member of the Athletes’ Committee of the Malaysian Anti-Doping Agency (ADAMAS) and Secretary of the Athletes’ Commission of the NOC of Malaysia; and 
• Stacy Spletzer-Jegen, WADA Senior Manager, Athlete Engagement.  

Dr. Al-Aradi said: “It was an honour to welcome WADA’s team of elite Asian athletes to Bahrain to serve as the face of the Athlete Engagement program. Together, we interacted with the next generation of athletes and shared our sporting and anti-doping experiences. This event was a key steppingstone for athletes, given it is a qualifying event for the Youth Olympic Games. As one of the largest multi-sport events in Asia, it was a great opportunity for WADA’s Athlete Engagement team to meet and talk directly to athletes during an important point in their careers and lives. I am confident that our interactions at this event were impactful and provided these youth athletes with clean sport values they can carry forward to future events in the years to come.” 

WADA’s AE team will continue its tour of major sporting events in the final months of the year, namely at the Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh (November 2025) and the African Youth Games in Angola (December 2025).