WADA ensures equal treatment for athletes in the results management process at Tokyo 2020 Games

The Olympic and Paralympic Games are sporting spectacles like no other. Once every other year, the eyes of the world are squarely focused on the world’s best athletes as they push the limits of the body and mind. However, like any other major event, there is far more going on in the background than meets the eye.

As it relates to the Tokyo Olympic Games that are wrapping up this week, while the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is the official event organizer, and the International Testing Agency (ITA) is responsible for the anti-doping program carried out throughout the Games, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has several roles to play in the lead up to and throughout the Games.

Indeed, while WADA’s Independent Observer Team is hard at work with its partners at the ITA ensuring the compliance of the doping control process, and the WADA-accredited Tokyo Olympic Laboratory is working 24 hours a day, seven days a week to analyze all the collected samples, WADA’s Legal Department is on hand to support in the results management process and intervene when required.

Anti-doping matters may come up at any moment, triggering arbitration proceedings and emergency hearings to address cases for athletes at the Games. In order to accommodate this at such short and urgent notice, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has set up two temporary offices in Tokyo -- the CAS Anti-Doping Division, which has been established to hear and decide anti-doping cases as a first-instance authority, and the CAS Ad Hoc Division for the Olympic Games, which is responsible for the resolution by arbitration of any disputes covered by Rule 61 of the Olympic Charter, insofar as they arise during the Olympic Games or during a period of 10 days preceding the Opening Ceremony of the Games.

Should the need arise, a representative from WADA’s Legal Affairs team or external counsel is on site to attend hearings, intervene in the proceedings and exercise WADA’s independent right of appeal if a decision is made that WADA considers to be out of step with the World Anti-Doping Code.

Should WADA choose to attend the hearings as an interested party or becomes a party to a case, the Agency can step in and argue its position at the hearing, as with any regular anti-doping arbitration process.

WADA’s Director of Legal Affairs, Julien Sieveking, who is currently in Tokyo, said: “The Olympic and Paralympic Games are the pinnacle of many athletes’ careers, and their focus should be squarely on their sporting performance rather than potentially being concerned about the results management process for anti-doping. The legal system that is in place in Tokyo is robust, and WADA is on hand to maintain the integrity of the results management process by ensuring the harmonization of sanctions and equal treatment for athletes. WADA legal experts stand ready to step in where necessary to ensure that the World Anti-Doping Code is respected, and that athletes’ rights are duly safeguarded.”

For further information on WADA’s presence at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, please consult the ”All News” section on the Agency’s website. WADA will also be closely monitoring the results management process during the Paralympics, which run from 4 August to 5 September 2021.