Athletes Continue to Press WADA for Ombuds

At its meeting last month in Peru, the World Anti-Doping Agency’s Athlete Committee continued its work on a number of issues including an Ombudsperson proposal. The WADA Athlete Committee continues to advocate for an Ombuds Office at WADA for the purposes of "supporting athletes with a channel through which to report issues, seek advice, ensure rules are applied as they should be and assist with navigating the increasingly complex world of anti-doping." This would be very similar to some of the work of the U.S. Olympic Committee's Athlete Ombudsman.

The proposal is not without controversy. International sports law expert, Amelia Fouques tweeted, "However it sure that such #Ombudsperson to be a minimum credible, that person has to be totally #Independant (including not being paid by WADA) Somehow I do not see #WADA going in that direction." (WADA Athlete Committee Mtg Minutes; Twitter @AMELIAsportLAW

Related posts: US Olympic Ombuds Helps Athletes in Conflict; USA Swimming Suspends Michael Phelps After Consulting USOC Ombuds; Complaint of USA Swimming Officials to be Heard by Olympic Ombuds; Team Canada Ombudsperson to Speak at Brock University; South Sudanese Runner Will Compete in Olympics With Help from USOC Ombuds; Canada Games Appoints Three Ombuds for Summer 2013; Canadian Paralympic Committee Appoints Ombuds for 2015/2016 Games.