WADA Gives Bermuda Four Months To Fix Issue

After the World Anti-Doping Agency [WADA] initially declared Bermuda non-compliant — which could have resulted in the Bermuda flag being prohibited at major sporting events — WADA confirmed that Bermuda “provided draft amendments to the legislation that WADA confirmed were in line with the Code,” so Bermuda has been placed on a watchlist and “given four months to execute its corrective action plans.”

A spokesperson said, “As part of a circulatory vote that ended yesterday, the World Anti-Doping Agency’s [WADA’s] Executive Committee [ExCo] approved a revised recommendation of the Agency’s independent Compliance Review Committee [CRC] to add the Bermuda National Anti-Doping Organization [Bermuda NADO] to WADA’s compliance ‘watchlist’.

“On 22 September 2023, the ExCo followed the CRC’s recommendation to allege the Bermuda NADO as non-compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code [Code] due to a failure to appropriately implement the Code into their legislation.

“In the days following the ExCo, the Bermuda NADO provided draft amendments to the legislation that WADA confirmed were in line with the Code, as well as a clear calendar for adoption of those amendments within four months. On this basis, the CRC has updated its recommendation for inclusion on the ‘watchlist’.

“As per the International Standard for Code Compliance by Signatories [ISCCS], by adding the Bermuda NADO to the ‘watchlist’, the ExCo has given it four months to execute its corrective action plans. If by 12 February 2024 the non-conformities have not been corrected to the satisfaction of the CRC, the Bermuda NADO will be alleged as non-compliant without the need for a further decision by the ExCo.”

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