27 Jun 2023
Compliance Annual Report 2022 / World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). - Montreal : WADA, 2023
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has published its 2022 Code Compliance Annual Report.
One of WADA’s primary roles as the global regulatory body for anti-doping in sport is to monitor effective implementation of the World Anti-Doping Code (Code) and its related International Standards (Standards) by more than 350 Anti-Doping Organizations, including National Anti-Doping Organizations, International Federations and Major Event Organizations.
In particular, the purpose of the Report is to:
- Clearly outline the achievements and challenges of WADA’s Code Compliance Monitoring Program, measuring objectives against key performance indicators through quantitative and qualitative analysis;
- Detail the interpretation and implications of the findings, trends and lessons learned over time for Code Signatory Organizations, enhancing their compliance maturity as defined in the Compliance Strategy; and
- Identify opportunities for continual improvement, forming the foundation for the following year’s Compliance Annual Plan. This cycle is repeated annually as WADA seeks to develop compliance maturity through improvement of its own compliance activities and the global anti-doping system.
Some of the key findings of the Report include:
- The 2022 CCQ was WADA’s primary compliance activity. Some significant improvements and progress were identified when comparisons are made for the same Code Signatories from their 2017 CCQ. This is even more notable in light of their being more requirements placed on Signatories in 2022.
- WADA continued to support Code Signatories in amending their anti-doping rules and/or legislation even though there was no requirement to do so as all Signatories, by early 2022, had compliant rules and/or legislation. WADA received and reviewed 286 sets of rules and legislation, which represents a 40% increase when compared to a similar year e.g. 2019.
- Although compliance procedures reduced in comparison to 2021 (which was a unique year due to the backlog of cases resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic with 52 procedures opened) they remained high at 39. A high number of compliance procedures suggests that compliance maturity is still being established in the system
- Testing continued to generate the most non-conformities in 2022. The availability of verifiable data through WADA’s Anti-Doping Administration Management System (ADAMS) reports and monitoring tools contributes to the high number of non-conformities
- Education generated the second highest number of non-conformities, replacing results management, following the first global assessment of the implementation of the new International Standard for Education introduced in January 2021.
- Resources within WADA and Code Signatories were an ongoing challenge in 2022. Within WADA, adjustments have been made to the roll out of CCQs to Code Signatories to ensure WADA’s review and feedback can be provided in a timely manner to enable Signatories to implement their corrective actions. 24% of Tier 1 and Tier 2 Signatories completing the CCQ have either self-reported a lack of resources or it was identified through the assessment of their programs that insufficient resources were in place to meet the requirements of the 2021 Code.
