WADA President and Director General visit the Republic of Korea in lead-up to 2025 World Conference on Doping in Sport

This week, the President and Director General of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) visited the Republic of Korea in the lead-up to WADA’s 2025 World Conference on Doping in Sport, which will take place from 1-5 December 2025 at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center. 

With the sixth World Conference less than 100 days away, President Witold Bańka and Director General Olivier Niggli travelled to Seoul and Busan to visit with local partners and stakeholders to promote the event and discuss final preparations for the Conference with senior officials from the Korea Anti-Doping Agency (KADA) and the City of Busan. 

Mr. Bańka said: “It was a pleasure to spend the week in the Republic of Korea, where anticipation for the 2025 World Conference on Doping in Sport is building. We would like to thank the Korea Anti-Doping Agency and the City of Busan for their hospitality, and for taking the time to meet with us to provide an important update on the ongoing preparations in the lead-up to the World Conference. We look forward to continued collaboration in the coming months, and we are confident that the Conference will be a resounding success and a landmark moment for clean sport.” 

Mr. KIM il-Hwan, Secretary General of the Korea Anti-Doping Agency said: “We were pleased to have had the opportunity to welcome Mr. Bańka and Mr. Niggli to the Republic of Korea this week to discuss the 2025 World Conference on Doping in Sport. Preparations are well underway and KADA, together with local partners, namely the City of Busan, are working tirelessly to ensure that this edition of the World Conference is seamless, memorable and historic. We are counting down the days to 1 December and cannot wait to welcome the global anti-doping community to the wonderful city of Busan.” 

In Busan, Mr. Bańka and Mr. Niggli met with Mayor Park Heong-joon, and earlier received an update on preparations for the World Conference from city officials and KADA. WADA’s leadership also engaged with 90 university students, mostly studying sport management, and provided them with an opportunity to meet the President and Director General and participate in a question-and-answer session. They participated in the “Play True Generation Pledge”, committing the students to protecting the values of clean sport no matter where their careers may take them. 

While in Seoul, the President and Director General visited the KADA office and met with the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, H.E. Chae Hwi-young. They then took part in the opening ceremony of the Fair Play Ground, a newly established clean sport experience space located in the KADA office at the Seoul Olympic Parktel. 

More on the World Conference 

The 2025 World Conference on Doping in Sport is anticipated to convene around 1,000 delegates, including athletes, representatives from the Sport Movement, Governments, National and Regional Anti-Doping Organizations, laboratories, service providers, researchers, and the media – all who are integral to the collaborative worldwide movement for doping-free sport. 

This edition of the World Conference will engage the anti-doping community in high-level discussion and debate about the World Anti-Doping Program, with a particular focus on approving the 2027 World Anti-Doping Code and International Standards.  

For more information on the World Conference, please visit the event website.