WADA consults with Donati on drugs trafficking

WADA is preparing itself for taking stronger measures in the fight against drugs trafficking. Following Sandro Donati’s presentation on drugs trafficking at the Play the Game conference in November 2005, WADA decided to invite him for closer consultations.

Donati, head of research at the Italian Olympic Committee CONI, visited WADA’s headquarters in mid-January for meetings and debates over two days with WADA directors and staff. On the agenda was partly Donati’s research into the drugs dealers’ international trade routes and ways of networking, and partly his suggestions about new ways to test elite athletes.

“Trafficking is a serious concern to WADA. As part of our comprehensive approach to anti-doping, we are exploring with experts such as Sandro Donati, as well as our government stakeholders and other organizations such as Interpol, ways to better coordinate information and more efficiently combat international trafficking of doping substances,” says WADA’s Media Relation Manager, Frédéric Donzé.

For the anti-doping fighter Donati, who for many years have been an outcast in the Italian and international sports establishment in spite of his ground-breaking research on anti-doping matters, the invitation from WADA was an important encouragement:

“I think it is a signal of intelligence that WADA is ready to listen to many different experts, also to one who was often an opponent. The general doping situation is very difficult now and it is important that international bodies like WADA listen to many different experts. By doing so, WADA shows that it acts differently from the IOC which has always operated in closed circles,” says Sandro Donati.

The presentation he gave at WADA’s headquarters about drug trafficking is published at www.wada-ama.org

It is an updated version of the presentation which Sandro Donati gave at Play the Game and which can be accessed here.