WADA publishes 2021 Code Compliance Annual Report

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has published the 2021 Code Compliance Annual Report.

The Report outlines the key achievements and challenges from the last year whilst also identifying areas where improvement can be made so that the global anti-doping system is as efficient as possible.

WADA’s Associate Director of Compliance, Rules and Standards, Kevin Haynes said “WADA’s 2021 Compliance Annual Report provides stakeholders with important insight and transparency into WADA’s Compliance Monitoring Program. The Report covers a unique and resource-intensive period of time for WADA and the World Anti-Doping Code Signatories; most notably, introduction of the 2021 Code and International Standards as well as resumption of compliance procedures previously frozen due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We recognize that Signatories were also required to adjust their anti-doping programs and priorities in light of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games that took place in 2021 and to comply with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decision on the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA).”

He added “We wish to acknowledge Code Signatories for responding to the requirements and also wish to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to the independent Compliance Review Committee (CRC) for its advice and input on identifying trends and best practice when it comes to reporting on WADA’s compliance activities.”

Some key findings include:

• A backlog of cases that were previously frozen during the pandemic led to a record number of annual compliance procedures which created some resource challenges for WADA
• No Signatory appealed to CAS suggesting that WADA correctly implemented the Code 
• NADO’s generated more non-conformities than IF’s and took longer to implement corrective actions

The 2021 Compliance Annual Report can be accessed here