WADA opens call for interest for President and Vice-President election

Deadline: Friday 31 January 2025 

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announces the opening of a public call for interest for the May 2025 election of the Agency’s independent President and Vice-President. The elected will serve as President and Vice-President of the Agency’s Foundation Board (Board), and Chair and Vice-Chair of the Agency’s Executive Committee (ExCo), playing an integral role on both of WADA’s key decision-making bodies. 

The terms of office of the current WADA President and Vice-President will end on 31 December 2025. As per the current version of the WADA Statutes (June 2023)¹, an open election will take place at least six months before the end of their terms. To prepare for this important process, the Board approved an Electoral Package which sets Thursday, 29 May 2025 as the election date. Further details on the election timeline are provided in the table below.  

WADA’s Statutes and Governance Regulations outline the rules that apply to the Board and the ExCo, as well as to the election of the WADA President and Vice-President. The relevant provisions for this election are reflected in the comprehensive Electoral Package. 

APPLICATION PROCESS  

Submission of Candidacies 

Applications are to be addressed to the attention of the WADA Director General at WADA’s Headquarters in Montreal (c/o governance@wada-ama.org) no later than Friday 31 January 2025 by 5:00 PM EST (Montreal time).   

To be considered, all applications must include the following: 

• a completed Application Form, together with a resume²; 
• two completed Nomination Forms, each signed by a member of the Board, one from the 20 Olympic Movement seats and one from the 20 Public Authorities seats, as defined in the Statutes; and 
• a completed Declaration of Independence, with a list of current relevant activities and positions. 

Any form received after the above deadline or that does not comply with the abovementioned requirements will automatically render the corresponding application inadmissible. 

Candidate Review and Vetting 

Applications will be submitted to WADA’s independent Nominations Committee, which is responsible for reviewing and vetting the candidates for the President and Vice-President election. Further details on their work are provided in Part A of the Electoral Package (see section 5). 

The Nominations Committee will submit the results of its work, including the relevant dossiers, to the Board no later than 28 March 2025.  

Campaign Period 

The campaign period will run from 31 March 2025, once the candidates are vetted by the Nominations Committee and when the list of official candidates is publicly announced by WADA, until the day prior to the election, i.e., 28 May 2025. During the entire campaign period and until the end of the election, all candidates shall comply with the Rules of Conduct provided in the Governance Regulations, which are further detailed in Part B of the Electoral Package.    

EXPECTATIONS OF CANDIDATES 

Eligibility requirements 

The positions of WADA President and Vice-President require skill, independence, and a strong commitment. Qualified candidates are invited to consult the Position Requirements for more details. In addition, and as mentioned above, candidates must be endorsed by two members of the Board, one from the 20 Olympic Movement seats and one from the 20 Public Authorities seats. 

Term of office 

The Board will elect a President and a Vice-President for an initial term of six years starting on 1 January 2026. The President and Vice-President can stand for re-election for a further term of three years. Any President or Vice-President cannot sit for more than nine years in each position.  

In the case of the current President and Vice-President, they may stand for re-election as they will have served six years at the end of their current terms. If re-elected, their new and final term would be for three years only.  

Independence criteria 

Candidates must meet WADA’s Operational and Personal Independence criteria³ in force at the time of their application, and during the entirety of their mandate, should they be elected. In addition, the elected President and Vice-President will have to meet the Organizational Independence criteria³ for a six-month period prior to being eligible to hold office (cooling-off period) and throughout their mandate. In this instance, the cooling-off period will start on 1 July 2025. 

Expected time requirement 

There are three ExCo meetings per year (March, September, and November/December) as well as one annual Board meeting that follows the last ExCo meeting. They are generally held in person, and last up to a full day. Should the President be unable to attend a meeting, the Vice-President shall act as their deputy, and vice-versa.  

In addition to these annual meetings, the President and Vice-President may be invited and travel to meet with WADA’s stakeholders, including representatives of athletes, National and Regional Anti-Doping Organizations, Governments of the world, and the Sport Movement.   

Compensation arrangements 

Given that their positions require significant skills and independence, demand a strong commitment, and generate a significant volume of professional work, the President and Vice-President are entitled to receive an annual indemnity fixed by the Board. The President and Vice-President shall also be entitled to a daily indemnity for activities that are performed on top of their normal duties of the Board and ExCo that result from the WADA Statutes and Governance Regulations. 

ELECTION TIMELINE 

Below is the timeline for the 2025 election of the WADA President and Vice-President, which is further detailed in Part A of the Electoral Package. 

Election Scrutineer 

In accordance with the Governance Regulations, the WADA Independent Ethics Board decided at its virtual meeting on 13 November 2024 to nominate independent member Ana Tuiketei as the Election Scrutineer. She will investigate any complaint related to the Rules of Conduct for candidates and oversee the election process. A breach of the Rules of Conduct may be brought to the attention of the Election Scrutineer by email at IEB.secretariat@wada-ama.org.  

Any questions regarding this call for interest or the WADA President and Vice-President election process should be directed to WADA’s Governance Unit at governance@wada-ama.org.  

Notes: 

(1) Following WADA’s May/June 2023 Foundation Board circulatory vote, the Board approved changes to Statutes and Governance Regulations as part of the Agency’s wide-ranging governance reform process. 

(2) By submitting their application, candidates (i) accept and understand that their candidacy forms and associated application materials (including personal information in these documents) will be collected and reviewed by WADA and its governance bodies in accordance with WADA’s Governance Regulations and Privacy Policy, and (ii) confirm that they have read and understood the Privacy Policy and accept its terms. 

(3) These criteria are set out in the Regulations on Independence in WADA’s Governance Regulations and can be consulted in the Position Requirements.