PH faces flag ban in Paris Games with Wada warning
FILE PHOTO: Olympic rings to celebrate the IOC official announcement that Paris won the 2024 Olympic bid are seen in front of the Eiffel Tower at the Trocadero square in Paris, France, September 14, 2017. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann
The Philippine flag is in danger of not flying in the Paris Olympics and other regional and continental championships unless the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) complies with the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) Code.
The Wada, an independent international agency involved in identifying, monitoring and eliminating the use of banned substances by athletes, made the warning in a letter dated Jan. 23 that stressed that the PSC’s noncompliance of the Code. The letter also asked the government sports body to address outstanding non-conformities identified in the Wada Code Compliance Questionnaire.
Notified through the Philippine National Anti-Doping Agency (Phinado) in September last year to comply with the Wada Code, the PSC has failed to respond since.
The Inquirer tried to get the side of Chair Richard Bachmann of the PSC, which said that it is still preparing a statement at press time.
“Should the outstanding nonconformities not be solved by [Jan. 22] 2024, the Philippines Sports Commission would be automatically alleged as noncompliant by Wada’s Executive Committee,” said the notice, which was signed by Wada Director General Olivier Niggli.
A case of an athlete who yielded a positive antidoping result in 2016 but wasn’t notified by the PSC or its antidoping arm is being pinpointed by Wada as one of its infractions.
The Montreal-based agency gave the PSC until Feb. 13 to dispute “Wada’s allegation of noncompliance and/or the consequences of noncompliance and/or the reinstatement conditions proposed by Wada.”
“If the PSC does not dispute any of these elements in writing to Wada, within 21 days from the date of this Formal Notice, the allegation of noncompliance will be deemed admitted, the consequences of noncompliance and the reinstatement conditions proposed by Wada will be deemed accepted, and this Formal Notice will automatically become a final decision with immediate effect,” the notice said.
The Wada attached with its notification the consequences of noncompliance and reinstatement conditions by the PSC that includes the banning of the Philippine flag in all major international competitions.
