WADA confirms non-compliance of the Organisation Camerounaise de Lutte contre le Dopage en Sport

Further to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA's) release of 12 July, WADA wishes to provide an update regarding the compliance status of the Organisation Camerounaise de Lutte contre le Dopage en Sport (Cameroon NADO). 

At its meeting of 11 March 2024, WADA’s Executive Committee (ExCo) endorsed the recommendation of WADA’s independent Compliance Review Committee (CRC) to add the Cameroon NADO to the compliance ‘watchlist’.   

As per the International Standard for Code Compliance by Signatories (ISCCS), by adding the Cameroon NADO to the ‘watchlist’, the ExCo gave the Cameroon NADO four additional months to execute its corrective action plan. The Cameroon NADO was added to the ‘watchlist’ because it still had not addressed non-conformities its anti-doping program as identified through the Code Compliance Questionnaire (CCQ) exercise.   

By placing the Cameroon NADO on the ‘watchlist’, as per Article 8.4.5 of the ISCCS, if the Cameroon NADO failed to correct its outstanding non-conformities by 11 July 2024, WADA would automatically send the Cameroon NADO a formal notice alleging non-compliance with the World Anti-Doping Code (Code) and proposing consequences and reinstatement conditions.     

At the end of the watchlist period, the non-conformities were still not corrected. Therefore, as per Article 9.2.3 of the ISCCS, on 12 July 2024, WADA sent the Cameroon NADO a formal notice of non-compliance. The Cameroon NADO had 21 days following the date of receipt of the formal notice to dispute WADA’s allegation of non-compliance and/or the consequences and/or the conditions of reinstatement proposed by the ExCo, failing which it would be deemed to have accepted the allegation of non-compliance, in line with Article 9.3.1 of the ISCCS.   

The Cameroon NADO did not dispute WADA’s allegation of non-compliance, the proposed consequences or the proposed reinstatement conditions within 21 days of WADA’s allegation of non-compliance. As a result, the alleged non-compliance is deemed admitted and the consequences and reinstatement conditions are deemed accepted. Accordingly, the formal notice sent to the Cameroon NADO on 12 July 2024 is now a final decision enforceable with immediate effect.   

As recommended by the CRC and approved by WADA’s ExCo, in accordance with Code Article 24, ISCCS Article 10 and Annex B of the ISCCS, the following consequences and reinstatement conditions are imposed on the Cameroon NADO.   

A separate note will be sent to other Code Signatories to assist them in implementing the consequences applicable to the Cameroon NADO. 

Non-compliant Code Signatories   

There are currently two other non-compliant Code Signatories, namely the Russian Anti-Doping Agency and the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation. For more information on these Code Signatories and their respective consequences, please visit the ‘Global list of non-compliant signatories and applicable consequences’ page of WADA’s website.