Wada reports two nations to CAS over non-compliance with anti-doping

The anti-doping agencies of Nigeria and Venezuela have been referred to the Court of Arbitration for Sport

Wada has referred the anti-doping agencies of Nigeria and Venezuela to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Getty)

The World Anti-Doping Agency said it has referred the national anti-doping agencies of Nigeria and Venezuela to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) over their alleged non-compliance.

The agencies were sanctioned by Wada in November for failing to address “critical requirements”.

Both agencies have disputed Wada’s allegations.

In a statement on Tuesday, Wada said it “filed the two separate requests for arbitration with CAS on 9 February, 2024... The allegations of non-compliance and the consequences would not take effect until such time as CAS makes its ruling.”

The punishments recommended by Wada’s Compliance Review Committee state that Nigeria and Venezuela’s flags would not be flown at competitions and the nations would be ineligible to host major sporting events until reinstatement conditions were met.

The alleged non-compliance of Nigeria’s anti-doping body comes after an audit in late 2022, while the Venezuelan NADO has not addressed a number of critical requirements that came from a Code Compliance Questionnaire, according to Wada.

There are currently two non-compliant Code Signatories, namely the Russian Anti-Doping Agency and the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation.  The NADOs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Gabon, as well as the Olympic Council of Asia, were recently removed from the non-compliant list having fufilled their reinstatement conditions.

Reuters