Al-Musallam highlights the need to safeguard sport’s independence and integrity

Al-Musallam meets WADA officials during Montreal visit.

MONTREAL, Canada, Aug 22: World Aquatics President Husain Al-Musallam visited the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) headquarters in Montreal, Canada, on August 19, where he met with WADA President Witold Bańka and Chief Executive Officer Olivier Niggli to discuss ways of strengthening cooperation to protect athletes and promote integrity and fairness in sport.

The talks focused on cooperation between World Aquatics and WADA, particularly in light of recent changes and developments to WADA’s regulations and governance frameworks.

Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring that anti-doping tests are administered fairly and equally to all athletes without discrimination. They also stressed the importance of having independent, impartial, and internationally recognized organizations conduct testing to enhance confidence, transparency, and fairness in the anti-doping system.

Al-Musallam thanked Bańka and Niggli for their warm reception, constructive discussions and continued cooperation in promoting clean sport and protecting athletes.

He also attended a meeting of WADA’s Athletes’ Council, which included an open discussion on the future of sport and the evolving challenges facing athletes and the global sporting community.

Al-Musallam reiterated World Aquatics’ commitment to competition policies based on fairness, sporting integrity, equal opportunities, and the protection of women’s sport. He noted that several international sports organizations and federations have adopted policies in recent years that broadly reflect the principles World Aquatics introduced in 2022.