Conference Examines Drugs in Sports
UN-BACKED GATHERING EXAMINING FUTURE OF THE FIGHT
AGAINST DRUGS IN SPORT GETS UNDER WAY
New York, Oct 26 2009 5:10PM
A United Nations-backed conference tasked with identifying ways to eliminate drug cheats from sport kicked off in Paris today, focusing on the use of a $2.2 million donation to help national or international anti-doping projects.
The three-day gathering of
around 250 government representatives at the UN Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization Headquarters will
discuss the future of the fight against doping in sport with
respect to an international anti-doping treaty.
The
2005 International Convention against Doping in Sport, which
promotes no advance notice, out-of-competition and
in-competition testing, was adopted unanimously by
UNESCO’s General Conference in October
2005.
Ratified by 127 countries to date, it is the
first worldwide binding legal instrument that imposes
uniform rules, tests and sanctions against using
performance-enhancing substances and methods.
The
Conference of States Parties to the Convention will examine
the administration of the $2.2 million UNESCO-created Fund
for the Elimination of Doping in Sport, which since 2008 has
helped seven projects in Africa (Mali, Mozambique and
Seychelles), the Americas (Barbados, Jamaica and Uruguay)
and Europe (Albania).
In addition, it is also slated
to adopt a list of substances and methods banned in sport by
1 January 2010. It will also as examine the electronic
system set up by UNESCO to monitor the implementation of the
Convention.
A report by the World Anti-Doping Agency
(WADA) about the
implementation of the World Anti-Doping Code will also
be presented at the conference. The Code stipulates that any
government which shall omit to ratify the Convention by 1
January 2010, or which shall subsequently not comply with
it, shall no longer be admissible as a candidate for
organising sports
events.
ENDS