WADA town: Madrid 2007

It's only been eight days since WADAwatch returned from an impressive visit to a lovely city, finding new friends and enjoying the world's attention being focussed on the transition between the Pound presidency and the new Fahey era, slated to begin on 1 January, 2008.

In Charles Pelkey's article from VeloNews (filed 17 November, 2007; however it discusses the events occurring on the 18th?), is published a WADAwatch photo. If you click on the photo within the VeloNews site, you'd be surprised to know that the Arabic news bureau Al Jazeera was covering this event as well: their correspondent is holding the yellow-foam microphone...

Here's an excerpt from Pelkey's article:

WADA elects Australia's Fahey to succeed Pound

"We express our belief that it is in WADA's strong interest to have a chair whose designation and election is decided by consensus," Bergner told the meeting. "We regret that the internal process among public authorities for the designation of a candidate was ruled by procedures which did not have the prior agreement and the consensus of all public authorities."

But Pound rejected the proposal, likening it to a 400-meter running race in which one of the competitors pulls a hamstring.

"You can't just ask to start the race over at that point," Pound said.

Fahey said he would continue to live in Australia and work closely with Ljungquist, who resides in Sweden, and the staff at WADA's Montreal headquarters.

As we wind down on Pound's era, and commence to turn a new page, a John Fahey-driven movement should press for the re-invigoration and substantial improvement of WADA's achievement of its Fundamental Rationale: in an amelioration of "Ethics, fair play and honesty", as well as "Respect for rules and laws"...

Ample incidents of WADA CODE violations appear constantly in the news; they are never discussed, or remain un-discovered. The word 'TABOO' comes to mind, as far as the WADAwatch concept of "equal justice under WADA law" has been implemented.

This column will produce an 'Open Letter' to new WADA president Fahey, Secretary General Howman, and Director of the Standards and Harmonization Committee, in the very soon future. Its purpose is to again put WADA on notice, as well as their Signatories that represent political and IOC member entities, that there is a vast failure in the linking of laboratory responsibilities to the CODE and ISL.

Back to...

WATCHING! WADA

..........@..........WADAwatch

Madrid LAST: RAP-up

The WADA Third World Conference on Doping in Sport ended in the flurry for which readers enjoyed nearly-realtime posting of photos and commentary here at WADAwatch.


In the current week, ZENmud productions is wearing another hat, that of independent film producer, currently engaged in a project to create a documentary, primarily destined for an Indian audience, but with global ramifications...

Thus the WADA-WCDS post-partem impressions are on the nightly burner, and hopes are to publish same before this film project ends.

So WADAwatch, by necessity, will take a back seat to this 14hr/day demand on professional time, after reminding a growing, and faithful audience, that on Tuesday, Andy Kashechkin's case will begin in a Belgian court, using the defense that the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), via its alignment with the World Anti-doping Agency, is operating in violation of Kashechkin's human rights, principally from the late hour in which his Out-of-Competition testing was performed.

Read more about that, from the website BikeRadar.com...

And with the hat-switching at ZENmud productions, a small reminder that Sport and Doping are not the world's most important problems that our generation(s) must share and solve,

Together.

WATCHED! WADA

........ @ ........WADAwatch

Madrid TWELVE: a WADA concern for the CODE...

There are few times when being an outsider are as pleasurable, as when having 'restrictions' in one's status (the now-boring exile to the basement Observer status) are reversed, by the fact that the pre-lunch, post-closing ceremony Press Conference was brought to our Auditorium B...

How could lowly WADAwatch be removed from the only room we had full rights to be in?


Joined by Michael Hiltzik and Charles Pelkey...

(Bon voyage! "Happy trails, tou you-ou, until we meet again...")

... in the front row where WADAwatch had homesteaded 'legal rights' to the one electrical plug, provided for the usually hardly-used camera setup, we soon were joined by Mr. Outgoing (in the second attributable sense of the word) President Dick Pound.

Stand by, as WADAwatch moves back in to the Auditorium B, for a momentus announcement, and maybe a worldwide scoop.

Live at WADA, the Last Act of Mr Pound?


WATCHING WADA! Breathlessly,

........@................WADAWatch

Madrid NINE: WADA CODE in the nose...

When you ask a noted British journalist, in the midst of a salmon-flavoured conversation, what his opinion is about WADA (or perhaps in the interests of neutral objectivity: what he'd heard in jest about WADA), you may not be surprised to hear this:

“WADA is a masking agent...”

Another brilliant lunch, as we prepared to endure the long series of brisk interventions regarding WADA's prepared, redrafted CODE.

The point made by my luncheon-table partner (of eight), an international bilingual table of French and English-natives, is an important one that WADAwatch has been pondering.

Is WADA becoming a victim of its own success?

Will WADA be able to maintain its high-profile momentum, transcend its high-profile, outgoing President Dick Pound, and implement (in 2009) a newly-forged CODE, or...

From the Madrid Conference Dungeon, home of all goodly Observers in the B class...


The question becomes:

Will WADA suffer from having opened a door that it no longer has the force of nature to close?

Recall that in Madrid SIX: Overnight Contemplations, WADAwatch mentioned that, only a generation ago, it was the Governments themselves that created the Doping Generation, a Cold-War tool that purported to invigorate a country's standings in the 'Medal War Count' that are still so fondly marked in any country with Olympic reasons for glory... this was one of the points that were supporting the idea mentioned, that WADA is a 'masking agent', which presumes the power to turn the tide of a multi-billion-dollar business.

Can WADA and governments stop science's advances, and the perversion of those advances toward an outcome wherein an athlete cheats, a doping-substance-supplier gets richer, and the Public, the Sponsors (offering a Great Benefit towards Presumption of Innocence to some who may not merit that) come out the poorer, and the most deceived.

WADAwatch proposed that the Marion Jones / Bjarne Riis models of confession (voluntary as was Riis, more-or-less compelled as was Jones), are one of WADA's strongest weapons.

Now that Sport is a Business of global importance, and the nefast transfer of the 'power' to suggest doping to Athletes (from some unscrupulous sources, certainly!) has gone from 'patriotic' to 'bottom line', whether that be corporate sponsor, or Team, or Individual, someone has gauged their risks and costs (financial, health, longevity of activity (if caught) against perceived benefits and...

It has become the "crime of the decade", selling papers, selling lab-testing services, submerging Federations in financially-bankrupting paperchases and Athlete-chases (for out of competition situations, Swiss has a Testing officer that logs nearly a half-million km annually to perform over 800 OOC tests)

Will the New WADA, under the New President (to be announced tomorrow, Saturday, the 17th of November, 2007), be able to a) grow the budget, b) maintain the competence of laboratory-testing that has, through the light of more intense public scrutiny, showed the weaknesses and over-amplified the needs of these Laboratories to find better testing transparency, competency, and legal and scientific reliability?

From a lower-level (here at the Conference...) perspective, WADAwatch concedes that a new President may have the 'tabla rasa' chance to regain some of the dispersed energy that were produced through certain regrettable WADA or Pound-oriented incidents, yet that regained momentum is what any organization needs, if a mandate forgotten comes again to the forefront in its quest to succeed.

+ + + + + +

FLASH: an Intervention (typing and listening are sometimes incompatible, apologies for not naming the Federation that has stated this) has just enforced that, through WADA's rapid acquisition of 'accredited labs', latent disparities have revealed unequal levels of testing competence, and that the 'WADA Laboratory point system' should be accelerated.

WADAwatch will investigate this for further information.

WATCH!LIVE! WADA

..........@..........WADAwatch

Madrid EIGHT: WADA Social Suggestions

This is an official WADAwatch proposal, certainly to all 'OBSERVER B' attendees of the WADA World Conference on Doping in Sport. who need a social headquarters in Madrid, as well as any Delegate or Media member with whom WADAwatch has taken contact.



There is only ONE place in Madrid, a street that needs no name, everyone in Madrid knows where it lays... if you like quiet dining, or fun with young Madrilians, or an Irish Pub, the key is simply the Metro stop...


BILBAO... that's Bilbao...
UPDATE: in the street Manuela Malasaña


You'll see the Café Comercial, and if you put your left hand on the wall, and follow around to the left; stop and look across the street, you'll see, cross and enter a street that is magical with legendary Madrid resto choices... on the left primarily, and then continuing just a few meters, where you'll see light tan walls bathed in direct lighting...


Run by a pair of friends, of whom Guilhem (photo) is the man whose smile never fades, 'Esto o o Este' is the right place for WADA refugees, cut loose on a Friday night...


Ambience totale, près du Metro Bilbao

Come and join the fun!

Invited by WADAwatch, in a Dutch sort of way...

WATCH! WADA dance tonight

..........@..........WADAwatch

Madrid SIX: overnight contemplations...

Stepping back a stride or two, taking a deep breath or two, is often the best way to absorb the events and statements of an afternoon WADAworld session... but first...

A royal welcome, via all the Spanish staff, to all the participants at any level, even we Observers, was best shown by the incredibly well-served banquet lunchen, featuring a Mediterranean pasta salad, pork tenderloin with mixed vegetables, a lovely Rioja (who could have predicted??), and a sweet chocolate mousse tarte...

At our table (N° 69 of some 140 arranged tables), several Delegates from the Federations, a Medical Director from another Federation, an international Arbitrator from CAS, a Portuguese journalist and Your Humble Narrator... suffice to say that our pluralistic interests meshed in a conversation that covered nearly all the hot issues, such as:

• The Floyd Landis case, the Decision, the known 'persuasions' of the selected panelists;

• The (easy to guess who led this topic's introduction?) lack of consistency in laboratory results, combined with the lack of results management;

• How the world has changed, now that governments no longer endorse doping, as had been the case in the Cold War era, when the supremacy of ideology possessed political opponents purposefully forward in their inner quest to achieve the most Olympic gold medals;

• How laboratories' budgets had boomed in the last four years, as drug-testing became the biggest growth industry since the advent of the commercial internet in the late 90s;

• From our Federationists, the costs associated with conformity to the WADA-way.

Voilà!

Between French, English, Turkish, German, American, Portuguese, Australian, the discussions covered the globe.

The afternoon sessions began with a discussion of the Science and Medicine topics; the item du jour was the problem or concept of the Abbreviated Therapeutic Use Exemptions (ATUE), the Guidelines concerning those, and the Federations' reactions to those advancements.

Starting with the interventions, which were nearly unanimous as to the factors of cost that were overwhelming the smaller Federations. Two different participants advised that their human resources were spending up to fifty per cent of their time in filling out WADA documentation!

There has to be a better way, was suggested from the floor, and endorsed in person by Mr. Pound, outgoing President of WADA.

The Chairman of the Laboratory Sub-committee, Luis Horta, brought in the issues concerning the labs that WADA has accredited. Earlier in the fall of 2007, one laboratory, the Horseracing Forensic Lab of England, actually became the first WADA laboratory to disassociate itself, to dis-accredit itself, for purposes of formally commencing vital research towards nutritional supplements.

Addressing the meeting, a high official of the International Laboratory Accreditation Council (? = ILAC) announced, with great fanfare, the impending signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between WADA and ILAC, for the purposes of refining even further the WADA accreditation process.

Discussions of the rest of Thursday's session will have to wait, because a) there's a good wifi connection, and...

Richard Young, he of the Floyd Landis 'prosecution team', from the USA, is now addressing the room, about changes in the WADA Code.

I wonder which among us knew, that he had these two roles?

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ADDENDUM added Friday 16 November 2007:

A Delegate from Columbia requested consideration of how hematocrit levels must be adjudged based on better information as to those citizens, such as in Columbia, who have naturally high RBC counts.

The Delegate representing the Bobsledding Federation stridently observed that the imposition of the TUE documentation presented them with the onus of filling out details on these “unnecessary and legally invalid documents.”

Finishing on the ATUE/TUE situation, David Gerard of WADA acknowledged these troubling aspects, and discussed the three separate alternatives (note: should be found on WADA's website) that were circulated.

However, he noted that there was little preference shown, or 'no inferable clear preference', among the Signatories that had provided feedback. Without the figures having been published, it would appear that no alternative had collected more than 35 per cent approval.

He mentioned also, something that WADAwatch is still 'digesting', that they had taken into consideration, whether the Laboratory Accreditation process would evolve into a layered system...

If he was saying that the levels of certain labs, in evidence via litigation (such as, dare we say, the Floyd Landis case?), or via accreditation-maintenance Proficiency Testing (PT), may be relegated to the “B League” for labs, whose proficiencies may be limited to one testing aspect (eg: blood transfusion testing, or r-EPO tracking), this would be a welcome, rational, neutral and acceptable choice for the future benefit of a system that is becoming a strength for better or worse.

+ + + END ADDENDUM + + +

WATCH!LIVE! WADA


..........@..........WADAwatch

WADA FIVE: the morning interventions

While the Government Delegates and the Federation Representatives are getting their moments in front of the podium, to address the issues of the Education Committee, a brief aside on the status of WADAworld as 'Observer'.

Without a Press-pass (note to Self: acquire a Press-pass), about 50 'Observers' are relegated to a lower-level auditorium, without direct access to the audience. There is a very feeble internet-wifi network, bleeding through the walls from the Press level.

However, the Press representatives themselves, are also relegated to a intermediate-level foyer, where they have massive tables to work from, combined with a very fast wifi network (I've noted that there are networks labelled Press-1, 2, 3, 4... but no 'Observers' network... did WADA really think those of us were here just to stare at the screen?

As I type this, the Spanish Delegation is intervening, stressing Prevention through Education, and discussing how 'weekend warriors' are finding these substances that they've heard about, in their gyms, cycling or futbal clubs: wherever weekend athletes congregate.

Next post on the Athletes... whoooaaah...

Watch WADA!Live!

..........@.........WADAwatch

FLASH: the late intervention from the Islamic Republic of Iran, having their Delegate discussing how Athletes were discussing their worries about some of the nutritional supplements they ingest...

Madrid TWO: more opening statements

Monsieur, le Docteur Jacques Roggé, President of the International Olympic Committee took the stage, welcoming the live audience as he reads his prepared remarks. He is stressing (en Français) that an important aspect of the fight against doping is the separation of powers, and that the Federations will take necessary steps against Athletes who have cheated. “It isn't only about testing and sanctioning athletes, it is ... also about health problems...”

“The international Olympic Committee has as a priority... the fight (against doping) is the no. 1 priority,

He reviewed some Olympic history, starting with the creation of the 1967 Medical Committee, accredited laboratories, introduced the CAS, funded WADA budget for first two years.

He then mentioned how the great French team, Festina, created the first modern scandal, in the great French event the Tour de France, in 1998

Moving forward, he discussed the 1999 Lausanne Conference, which begat >>> WADA...

More to come,

Watching WADA LIVE!

..........@..........WADAwatch

One Week to - WADAworld - Conference

One Week to Third World Conference on Doping in Sport


WADA has placed the following statement on their site, and WADAwatch recommends that Attendees have the time to read it (linked above).

Date: November 8, 2007

Final preparations are underway for the Third World Conference on Doping in Sport, organized by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) with the support of the High Council for Sport of Spain on November 15-17 in Madrid. In one week from now, nearly 1,500 participants representing the Sport Movement, public authorities, the anti-doping community, athletes, observers, and the media, will gather at the Spanish capital's Municipal Convention Center to discuss the state of the fight against doping in sport and consider further measures to be taken in this field.

The chief topic of discussion will be the revision of the World Anti-Doping Code (Code)—the core document adopted in 2003 by the Sport Movement and Governments of the world as the framework for the global harmonized fight against doping in sport. The draft revised Code being presented to WADA's Foundation Board for approval on November 17, 2007, is the product of a broad review process, which began in April 2006, and included three stages of consultations with stakeholders and drafting. The process of revising the Code is intended to fine-tune its provisions based on the experience gained to date and to strengthen global efforts against doping in sport. The final draft revision of the Code (which was published on October 15), as well as information on the Code review and consultation process, and a Q&A highlighting the major changes envisaged in the revised Code, can be found by clicking here.

Today, WADAwatched sent its "Questionnaire for WADA Labs" to some 15 - 20 International Federations, hoping that they would acknowledge an interest in seeing balanced 'fair play' come to WADA.

As they are currently drafted, the International Standards for Laboratories, and Testing, as well as the redrafted WADA CODE, offer

• More onerous conditions for Athletes, whether merited or presumed;
  

• New 'and improved' sanctions against International Federations that are not in conformity with WADA; and,
  

• No alterations of the leniencies granted to the Laboratories through the simple word 'presumed', in Article 3.2.1, to have operated per these ISL and IST standards.

Next week, WADAwatch will be more focussed on trip documentation preparation, so there may be only two or so opportunities for further posting.

WADAwatch is hoping to bring to its growing audience, detailed rapid, accurate and comprehensive analysis from the Conference sessions in Madrid, starting next Thursday.

Until then, please!

Watch WADA!!

..........@..........WADAwatch