WADA calls for continued collaboration during 2025 Annual Symposium

Today, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) opened its 2025 Annual Symposium in Lausanne, Switzerland – a two-day event convening nearly 1,000 delegates from the global anti-doping community under the theme “Going Further Together”. 

In line with the theme, WADA President Witold Bańka’s keynote address kicked off the two-day event by calling for continued collaboration among members of the anti-doping community. 

Mr. Bańka said: “In 2024, WADA celebrated its 25th anniversary, a testament to an exceptional alliance between the sport movement and governments of the world. Over the years, the anti-doping community has been significantly reinforced by the addition of many more dedicated partners from around the globe. This has been the secret to our success. It is the work we all do together. It is the ongoing cooperation among individuals and organizations that share the same vision of a world where all athletes can participate in doping-free sport.”  

Mr. Bańka continued: “But of course, 2024 wasn’t just about celebration. It was also a year of challenges faced, in particular due to the serious matter of contamination.  As has been the case over WADA’s history, we saw this as an opportunity to further strengthen the global anti-doping system -- this time as part of the World Anti-Doping Code update process that is currently underway and will culminate in December at the sixth World Conference on Doping in Sport in Busan, Republic of Korea. 

“The cases sparked an essential discussion about how we can better manage contamination. Nowadays, laboratories can detect smaller and smaller quantities of substances, which means that, more and more, we are seeing those who test positive putting forward contamination defenses. The challenge for WADA, other Anti-Doping Organizations and, ultimately, for tribunals adjudicating these cases is to distinguish between cases of genuine contamination, and cases of well-resourced cheats who fabricate a contamination defense. If the system is too rigid, innocent athletes will suffer injustice. If the system is too lenient, cheats will prosper. Accordingly, WADA is asking its Code Revision Team to reflect on this and consider the need for regulatory improvements – always with the goal of ensuring harmonization for athletes and Anti-Doping Organizations, which is at the core of WADA’s global collaborative movement for doping-free sport.”  

In this regard, Mr. Bańka shifted gears to the antithesis of doping-free sport, the so-called Enhanced Games – a concept that promotes the abuse of prohibited substances and methods. 

He said: “To be clear, WADA condemns the Enhanced Games as a dangerous and irresponsible project. The health and well-being of athletes is WADA’s number one priority, and this event jeopardizes that. I call on all Anti-Doping Organizations, all Governments and all our clean sport partners, including athletes, to join us in condemning the Enhanced Games that organizers have suggested will be held in the United States.” 

This year’s Annual Symposium was structured around WADA’s 2025-2029 Strategic Plan. The program features 15 informative and interactive sessions which cover a wide range of anti-doping topics, such as: 

• How partnerships can take us further; 
• Key achievements and innovations in anti-doping research, and how anti-doping organizations can contribute to research endeavors; 
• Managing whistleblowers in anti-doping; 
• How knowledge sharing and ethical data governance can drive innovation, streamline processes, and foster fairness; and 
• Preparing together for the 2027 Code and International Standards, and the protection of athlete rights in the 2027 Code framework. 

Delegates are encouraged to actively participate during a number of sessions, namely with regards to amplifying the athlete voice; the issue of contamination; engaging with younger athlete audiences through strategic awareness campaigns; and generating new ideas together to respond to key challenges of the global anti-doping system. 

More about the Annual Symposium  

The Annual Symposium brings together anti-doping practitioners from International Federations, National and Regional Anti-Doping Organizations and Major Event Organizations, as well as athletes, Governments, WADA-accredited laboratories, Athlete Passport Management Units, service providers, researchers, and international media.  

Note to editors:  

Please find below images from the Symposium. These are rights-free for editorial purposes with the appropriate credit (WADA).