Rapport annuel 2023

Message from the President and Director General

Dear Colleagues,  

Our Annual Report is an opportunity to provide you—our partners in clean sport—a high-level overview of the impact we are delivering together, recognizing your ongoing support and dedication as we unite toward a world of doping-free sport.  

The report is structured around our Strategic Priorities, featured in bold, to showcase the ways in which our activities are informed by, and advancing, our 2020-2024 Strategic Plan.  

Over the course of 2023, WADA:  

• Further strengthened its ability to lead through completing its governance reforms and securing private funding to increase the future capacity for ADAMS development by 25%;   
• Continued to grow impact by enhancing capacity and capability building and knowledge sharing between Anti-Doping Organizations and enabling local program delivery;  
• Remained actively involved in its commitment to be athlete centered; and   
• Facilitated meaningful engagement with and amongst all clean sport partners to fulfil its efforts to collaborate and unite.    

2023 saw the full implementation of the governance reforms initiated in 2021, leading to enhanced representation for athletes and National Anti-Doping Organizations (NADOs) within WADA. This was achieved through the Athlete Council, which promotes the voices of athletes on anti-doping matters and serves as the avenue for athletes to assume positions on WADA’s Foundation Board, Executive Committee, and other Committees. It was also achieved through the NADO Expert Advisory Group, which brings the views of NADOs forward to WADA's governing bodies, reviews anti-doping matters impacting NADOs, and provides relevant guidance and recommendations to WADA to enhance collaboration with and development of NADOs globally.  

In March, we brought the anti-doping community together for our Annual Symposium in Lausanne, Switzerland. Once again hosted in a hybrid fashion, the Symposium was a valuable opportunity for information sharing, solidarity, and partnership, all of which are key to delivering on our mission to lead a collaborative worldwide movement for doping-free sport.  

We were also pleased to stage our fifth International Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) Symposium in Incheon, South Korea in May/June, bringing together more than 250 participants. Medical and anti-doping experts, as well as TUE managers and administrators from around the world convened to discuss the challenges of harmonization of TUEs in a diverse world and to improve understanding of the complex processes that are in place to ensure fairness for all athletes. 

2023 also saw achievements in many other important areas, including:  

• Advancing anti-doping science and implementing strategic testing and technology; 
• Progressing on development of evidence-based prevention strategies; 
• Strengthening World Anti-Doping Code compliance monitoring of Signatories; and 
• Expanding and reinforcing intelligence and investigations capacity of the global anti-doping system. 

As WADA and the anti-doping community continue to evolve, we remain committed to engaging and empowering athletes and building anti-doping capacity as we are, together with our clean sport partners, united toward a world of doping-free sport. 

We thank you all for your commitment to clean sport.

Witold Bańka                                            Olivier Niggli
President                                                  Director General

Other WADA Governance Bodies 

In addition to the two decision-making bodies mentioned above, WADA’s Governance Structure also includes four other types of bodies: Permanent Special Committees, Standing Committees, Expert Advisory Groups, and Working Groups.   

More information is available about each of these governance bodies on our website. 

With the understanding that regional and gender diversity of our governance bodies is particularly important to our stakeholders, as indicated in 2022 by the Working Group on the Review of WADA Governance Reforms (Working Group) in its final report, we have begun collecting the corresponding data and are sharing it below to provide stakeholders with a greater sense of the overall composition of WADA’s governance bodies. This aligns with the recommendation from the Working Group that an analysis should be conducted regularly to ensure that an accurate picture of diversity across all WADA bodies is always available. The following data is aggregated from the abovementioned Committees and Groups as well as the ExCo and Board, as of 31 December 2023. 

Management Team 

The ExCo delegates the management of the Agency to the Director General, Olivier Niggli, who leads the Management Team. The Organizational Structure is available here.  

2023 Management Team

WADA Overall Staff

Finally, we cannot fail to acknowledge the WADA Staff in its entirety.  

At the end of 2023, WADA employed 187 people of 52 nationalities to carry out its day-to-day operations from its headquarters in Montreal, four regional offices in Cape Town, Lausanne, Montevideo, and Tokyo, as well as at the office of the President in Warsaw. Together the team collaborates with our global partners to protect clean sport and uphold the values of fair play. 

We are committed to cultivating a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion in our workplace and are pleased to share our gender and regional diversity data for our overall Staff, as of 31 December 2023. 

The Year in Numbers

For a third year, WADA has conducted a series of perception surveys and internal analysis to measure Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) under the strategic priorities of the 2020-2024 Strategic Plan. As the perception surveys are administered at the beginning of each year, the data from 2024, particularly when compared to that of 2023, provides insight on progress made over the course of 2023, making it ideal to reflect WADA’s KPI data for 2023 at a glance. 

Lead

WADA is leading the collaborative worldwide movement for doping-free sport by remaining at the forefront of science and medicine, innovative testing and technology, governance, and education amongst other things. To guide the world toward a place where all athletes can participate in a doping-free sporting environment, WADA has also begun securing private funding to complement the annual budgetary contributions received from the Sport Movement and Governments of the world.

Cutting edge Science and Medicine 

WADA continues to strengthen the development of anti-doping science and medicine to ensure effective implementation of the World Anti-Doping Code (Code) and its related International Standards.

Grow Impact

WADA’s ‘Grow Impact’ priority strives to expand the reach and impact of anti-doping programs by enhancing capacity and capability building and knowledge sharing between Anti-Doping Organizations (ADOs) and enabling local program delivery. Several teams across the Agency contribute to the work of this priority, including Education, Program Development, Intelligence and Investigations, National Anti-Doping Organization/Regional Anti-Doping Organization (NADO/RADO) Relations, and the Regional Offices. 

Be Athlete Centered

Keeping athletes at the center of what we do is critical to ensuring that our decisions are made not just with athletes in mind but in collaboration and consultation with them. WADA’s ‘Be Athlete Centered’ priority of the Agency’s Strategic Plan involves:  

• engaging and empowering athletes to contribute to the development of anti-doping policies;   
• building an easier anti-doping journey for athletes; and  
• gaining the trust and support of athletes in the anti-doping system.  

In 2023, the reforms designed to enhance athlete representation within WADA’s governance were fully enacted. Athlete-centered projects such as the Athletes’ Anti-Doping Ombuds Program and the Initial Human Rights Impact Assessment were also underway, ensuring that athletes have a dedicated resource to help them navigate the anti-doping system and that anti-doping policy is examined through the lens of how it may impact and protect athletes’ human rights respectively. 2023 also saw the development of two new e-courses for athletes and meaningful athlete engagement at several major sports events. 

Collaborate and Unite

WADA seeks to engage everyone involved in anti-doping, in particular Public Authorities and the Sport Movement, to increase unity, coherence, and support in everyone’s efforts to protect clean sport. WADA’s Stakeholder Engagement and Partnerships Impact Area, Sport Movement Relations Department, and Regional Offices are all instrumental to this work. 

WADA also establishes strategic partnerships to strengthen the clean sport movement, hosts events to unite the global anti-doping community, and plays key roles in events organized by other anti-doping organizations and Governments.  

At a governance level, collaboration is key. WADA’s many Committees, Expert Advisory Groups and Working Groups contribute significantly to the development of the anti-doping system. WADA is grateful to the members of each of these groups, all of whom graciously volunteer their time and expertise for the collaborative worldwide movement for doping-free sport.  

Stakeholder Engagement 

Members of WADA leadership, including President Witold Bańka, Vice-President Yang Yang, and Director General Olivier Niggli, frequently meet with government officials and sport leaders across the globe, both in bilateral meetings and multilateral forums. These meetings are key opportunities for exchange—for WADA to hear from its stakeholders about the anti-doping landscape in their region, the work they are conducting, and the challenges they are facing, as well as for WADA to update stakeholders on its activities and priorities. Above all, these are opportunities to promote the need for continued collaboration and harmonization of anti-doping rules, policies, and regulations between Governments and sport leaders worldwide and for stakeholders to strengthen their commitment to protecting clean sport.  

Other symposia, summits, and seminars

Over the course of the year, WADA also played important roles in other anti-doping symposia, summits, and seminars in Europe and Asia. These events all provided opportunities for anti-doping communities in different regions to gather, collaborate, build new relationships, forge new connections and strengthen existing ones; and of course, to renew commitments to clean sport:

World Anti-Doping Program

The backbone of our work is the World Anti-Doping Program, which is comprised of the World Anti-Doping Code (Code), International Standards (Standards), and Guidelines, which together ensure harmonization and best practice. These are all living documents and thus are updated as needed in consultation with stakeholders. In turn, as the global regulatory body for anti-doping in sport, WADA is responsible for monitoring effective implementation of and compliance with the Code and Standards by Code Signatories and also for ensuring global harmonization of sanctions and equal treatment for athletes.  

List of Prohibited Substances and Methods 

In September 2023, following our usual, extensive stakeholder consultation process with some of the most qualified experts in the fields of science and medicine from around the world, WADA’s Executive Committee (ExCo) approved the 2024 List of Prohibited Substances and Methods (List). The List was then published on 28 September, along with the 2024 Summary of Major Modifications and Explanatory Notes and the 2024 Monitoring Program. As is customary, the new List came into effect 1 January 2024. 

Guidelines, Technical Documents + Letters, Code and Standards Update

Compliance  

As the global regulatory body for anti-doping in sports, one of WADA’s primary roles is to monitor Code Signatories’ compliance with the Code and Standards. WADA does this through its Compliance Monitoring Program, comprised of the Code Compliance Questionnaire (CCQ); Program Area Monitoring; audits; and reviews of anti-doping rules, regulations, and national legislation. 

In 2023, around 300 Signatories received support or were assessed by one or more of our compliance monitoring programs as follows:  

• The CCQ project required International Federations (IFs) and National Anti-Doping Organizations (NADOs) to report on their adherence to the 2021 Code and Standards, which was the second year of the initiative. All Tier 1, 2, and 3 IFs and NADOs had received their CCQ by the end of 2023, and 171 Corrective Action Reports (CARs) had been issued. 
• WADA conducted 10 audits during the year. 
• WADA started to roll out its Program Area Monitoring program with a pilot group of 21 Signatories. 
• WADA received 333 sets of rules and/or legislation to review from 97 Code Signatories.  

The panels that follow provide some of the key findings drawn from the Compliance Monitoring Program in 2023.

Summary 

Identifying trends and comparisons from year to year is a challenge because annual compliance monitoring programs vary. However, in 2023, there is evidence that the maturity of the anti-doping system is increasing, although compliance by all Signatories is still not ‘business-as-usual’. WADA continues to require compliance measures to verify and monitor Signatory compliance, and deadlines have proven effective in encouraging Signatories to take the necessary actions. 

Independent Observer program  

WADA’s Independent Observer (IO) program, which complements the Compliance Monitoring Program of Major Event Organizations, helps enhance athlete and public confidence at major sporting events by monitoring and reporting on all phases of the doping control and results management processes.  

In 2023, WADA’s IO program was present at: 

Results Management 

WADA reviews all decisions rendered by Signatories worldwide, and files appeals where appropriate to ensure global harmonization of the sanctions and an equal treatment for athletes, regardless of where they come from or what sport they compete in. In 2023, WADA filed 30 appeals. 

In May 2023, WADA published its 2020 Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) Report, a set of statistics that illustrates the outcomes of Adverse Analytical Findings (AAFs) resulting from samples collected in 2020 as well as non-analytical cases for which a decision was issued in 2020. This report complements the 2020 Testing Figures Report published in December 2021. 

Key information provided in the 2020 ADRVs Report includes: 

The proportion of ADRVs confirmed to samples collected remained stable as compared to 2019 despite the drop in the number of samples collected in 2020 as a result of COVID-19.

Comparisons with 2018 and 2019 are listed in the table below. 

RUSADA 

The two-year period of consequences contained in the CAS decision regarding RUSADA’s non-compliance came to an end on 17 December 2022. Since then, WADA has been monitoring the progress being made by RUSADA as it seeks to satisfy the conditions of reinstatement as laid out by the CAS decision. In the meantime, RUSADA remains non-compliant with the Code.  

Separately, a fresh critical non-conformity was identified related to inconsistencies between the federal Russian sports legislation and the Code. At its meeting on 22 September 2023, the ExCo accepted the CRC’s recommendation to impose on RUSADA new consequences and reinstatement conditions. On that date, WADA sent RUSADA a formal notice specifying the relevant consequences and reinstatement conditions. RUSADA subsequently disputed WADA’s allegation of non-compliance, as well as the consequences and reinstatement conditions. Accordingly, WADA has recently filed a formal notice of dispute with CAS.  

Meanwhile, WADA’s Operation LIMS investigation into the data and samples retrieved by WADA Intelligence and Investigations from the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory in 2019 continues to be successful. As a sign of that success, the number of athletes who have now been sanctioned as part of this project has reached the 253 milestone, with an additional 32 charged and 94 cases that remain under investigation.