The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has recently announced updates to compliance cases with several anti-doping agencies, with one being added to the non-compliant list and two more having cases taken to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
WADA confirmed the non-compliance of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) on Dec. 8, doing so as a result of its failure to implement the restrictions placed on the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADO) of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), which was declared non-compliant in October 2021.
The OCA allowed the DPRK flag to be flown at the Asian Games, which was not allowed due to the NADO’s non-compliance.
“It became clear during the Asian Games that the OCA did not take steps to comply with the terms of the DPRK’s non-compliance and that the DPRK flag was repeatedly flown at the event,” WADA’s release reads. “Despite repeated reminders from WADA before and during the Games, the OCA refused to comply.”
The OCA did not dispute the non-compliance within the given window and will have to pay $500K (USD) as a result.
The OCA is the fifth Code Signatory to become non-compliant with WADA, joining the NADOs of Korea, Gabon and Russia and the Bodybuilding Federation.
The NADOs of Nigeria and Venezuela will have cases taken up with the CAS, as both dispute WADA’s allegations of non-compliance.
“The Nigerian NADO has yet to address several critical requirements following an audit carried out by WADA in late 2022, while the Venezuelan NADO has not addressed a number of critical requirements to its anti-doping program following the Code Compliance Questionnaire exercise,” WADA said.
Sanctions against the Nigerian and Venezuelan NADOs will not apply until the CAS makes its ruling.
Additionally, the Tunisian National Anti-Doping Organization (ANAD) was added to WADA’s compliance watchlist “due to a failure to appropriately implement the WADA Code into its national legal framework.”
The Tunisian organization will have four months to implement the sanctions.