The meeting promised to be intense. It lived up to its promise. Over the course of two days last weekend (November 16 and 17), the World Anti-Doping Agency convened its Executive Committee and Foundation Board in Montreal, Canada. It was an opportunity for WADA to take a long series of decisions and resolutions. Among them was the decision to declare three national anti-doping organizations non-compliant for failing to respect the World Anti-Doping Code: Venezuela, Nigeria and Tunisia. Two other countries, Cambodia and the Bahamas, were placed on the “watch list“, with a four-month deadline for compliance. WADA has also decided to maintain its regional office in South Africa, where it has been based since 2003. A call for tenders was issued last spring. Three countries responded: Egypt, Morocco and South Africa. However, after analyzing the bids, the Agency’s Executive Committee finally decided to accept the South African offer, and to continue discussions with the political authorities to maintain the regional office in Cape Town. In Montreal last week, WADA also made official the appointment of Frenchman Emmanuel Leclaire as the new independent supervisor of its Intelligence and Investigations Department, where he will replace the Swiss Jacques Antenen. Finally, the Foundation Board adopted WADA’s 2024 budget. It amounts to $54,493,760, up 6% on 2023.
