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WADA invites media to its 2024 Annual Symposium, which will celebrate the Agency’s 25th Anniversary

annual symposium

  • Keynote speeches by the WADA President and Director General; and the Vice-President of the European Commission 

  • Details will be announced regarding more than 50 successful operations carried out by law enforcement agencies in Europe in collaboration with Anti-Doping Organizations, with associated seizures, arrests and dismantling of illegal performance-enhancing drug laboratories 

 

Dear members of the media, 
  
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is pleased to invite you to register to attend the first day of the Agency’s Annual Symposium, which will be held in a hybrid fashion, at the SwissTech Convention Center in Lausanne, Switzerland from 12-13 March 2024. 

The Symposium, which has long been the main event on the global anti-doping calendar, gathers 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 the media, with the goal of advancing the global anti-doping system.   

This 18th edition of the Symposium will open with remarks by WADA President, Witold Bańka, and Director General; and, will immediately be followed by a keynote speech from European Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas who will reflect on the European Commission’s long-standing partnership with WADA and look forward to future opportunities for collaboration. 

Of particular interest to the media is likely to be a session focused on WADA’s European Intelligence & Investigations’ Capability and Capacity Building Project, which will reflect on the exceptional results of the project. Director of WADA’s Intelligence and Investigations, Günter Younger, will lead a presentation highlighting more than 50 successful operations run collaboratively by European law enforcement agencies and Anti-Doping Organizations. These operations have led to significant seizures, arrests and dismantling of illegal performance -enhancing drug laboratories across Europe, details of which will be announced during the session. 

The Symposium will also celebrate WADA’s 25th anniversary, the accomplishments of the global anti-doping community and some of its key contributors.  In fact, at the conclusion of day one, WADA will host a 25th Anniversary Gala that will gather Symposium attendees and other invited guests, including members of the media, to celebrate the accomplishments of WADA and the global anti-doping community and some of its key contributors. 

Under the theme ‘One Mission – One Team’, the Symposium program includes many other interesting sessions that highlight how, together, we are delivering on our global collaborative mission for doping-free sport and raising the game for athletes worldwide.  You are invited to consult the full program for day one here and we hope that you will join us.  

Media Access Day: Tuesday 12 March 
  
As usual, members of the media are invited to attend the plenary sessions on day one, free of charge, with all the Symposium delegates. You can also register to attend virtually.  

A media conference will take place at about 12:15 CET, attended by a number of senior WADA officials, including President Witold Bańka and Director General Olivier Niggli. The media conference will also be accessible to members of the media who register to attend virtually. 
  
Registration to the Symposium 
  
Should you wish to register for the Symposium, whether in person or virtually, we invite you to do so on the Symposium website as soon as possible. The final deadline to register is 3 March 2024 (23:59 CET), after which no registrations will be accepted. 

One-on-one Interview Requests 
  
For one-on-one interview requests, please contact James Fitzgerald, Head of Media Relations at media@wada-ama.org. It should be noted that, while we will do our utmost to accommodate as many requests as possible, we cannot guarantee that every outlet will receive a one-on-one time slot. We thank you in advance for your understanding in this regard. 
  
WADA looks forward to welcoming you in Lausanne or online for this event.