A group of national anti-doping agencies including those from the United States, Britain, France and Japan have called for greater protection of whistleblowers.
A group of national anti-doping agencies including those from the United States, Britain, France and Japan have called for greater protection of whistleblowers.
The group of 17 national anti-doping agencies known as NADO have also proposed a series of reforms aimed at improving independence and transparency in the fight against drug cheats.
During a two-day summit in Copenhagen, the NADO representatives discussed how to strengthen the World Anti-Doping Agency in order to counter “the inappropriate involvement of sport leaders in critical anti-doping decisions and activities”, the group said in a statement on Tuesday.
They also discussed “ensuring a level playing field in countries with failing anti-doping structures, and long overdue reforms to ensure the current and future protection and support of whistleblowers — including that of Yuliya and Vitaly Stepanov”.
Yuliya Stepanova, a Russian 800-metre runner, and her husband Vitaly helped lift the lid on Russia’s alleged state-sponsored doping programme, but they have been living in hiding in the United States since the scandal broke last year.
Their evidence led to Russian athletes being banned from competition at the Rio Olympics earlier this month.
The country’s entire squad has also been banned from the Paralympics due to start next week.
