Slowed down for a time by the health crisis, the International Control Agency (ITA) is resuming cruising speed. With less than 240 days before the opening of the Tokyo Games, it announces the creation of a group of international experts called to support the ambitious independent anti-doping program scheduled for next year in the Japanese capital. It is expected to submit an astronomical number of 25,000 recommendations, not less, to anti-doping organisations by the time of the Tokyo 2020 Games. It is made up of anti-doping specialists from international federations, representing the team and individual sports, and national and regional anti-doping organisations representing the five continents. Its main task: to examine the anti-doping information available on the athletes likely to participate in the Games. The ITA panel of experts had already gotten to work at the end of 2019, before the Tokyo Games were postponed for a year. Over the past six months, it has recalibrated its efforts to begin issuing recommendations based on an updated risk assessment and suitable qualification lists. This week, he marked the continuation of the Tokyo 2020 anti-doping program by issuing recommendations targeting around 6,000 individual athletes and 124 teams. The ITA expert group is made up of five representatives of national or regional anti-doping organisations:
- Daniel Ashworth – UK Anti-Doping
- Steve Northey – Sport Integrity Australia
- Matt Fedoruk – American Anti-Doping Agency (USADA)
- Keiko Uchitani – Agence Japanese anti-doping (JADA)
- Rym Zerifi – Regional Anti-Doping Organization (RADO) Africa Zone I
and five specialists from international federations:
- Xavier Bigard – UCI
- Leslie Buchanan – World Triathlon
- Stuart Miller – ITF
- Margo Mountjoy – FINA
- Alexis Weber – FIFA
