By MARK REY MONTEJO
The Philippine Anti-Doping Agency (PHINADO) and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) are confident that the issue on the alleged non-compliance on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Code will be resolved soon, assuring everyone particularly national athletes that the country’s flag can be flown in major international stages including the Paris Olympics.
PHINADO representative Nathan Vasquez said they are already working on corrective actions based on code compliance in order to fulfill WADA’s requirements.
“Based on the code compliance, we basically need to conform with four requirements—open testing distribution program, athlete’s biological passport, registration testing pool and results management,” said Vasquez during the PSA Forum on Tuesday, Feb. 20.
“We checked out on the first two, we’re halfway checking out the third and we’re now working on the fourth. We’re still working on the corrective actions, as long as everything is checked off, everything is going to be well,” he added.
PSC Chairman Richard Bachmann, whose agency works hand in hand with PHINADO, also said they have also sought help from no less than President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. regarding the issue, which has been elevated to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
“With everyone helping out, from the legislation, the government. We have a meeting this Friday with (President) BBM, and I’m confident that we will be able to solve this case,” Bachmann said.
WADA declared on Wednesday, Feb. 14, that the National Anti-Doping Organization of the country was non-compliant as “it did not resolve a number of critical non-conformities, as identified from WADA’s Code Compliance Questionnaire (CCQ) exercise.”
It involved an unnamed boxer who tested positive for banned substance in 2016, but was a professional and was never a member of the national team nor the training pool.
“We explained that to WADA, and even sent the by-laws of the Games and Amusement Board (GAB) and the PSC,” Bachmann said.
PSC Executive Director Paulo Francisco Tatad added they have already submitted their position paper disputing that the athlete is not under the jurisdiction of the PSC.
“The submission of this position paper was actually guided by WADA legal, so if WADA are able to side with our position paper, then yes, this would be checked off immediately,” Tatad said.
“It’s business as usual for the athletes. Nothing is jeopardized,” he added.
