100 UNESCO countries adopt measures to reinforce clampdown on doping in sport | WPN World People News

One hundred States Parties to the International Convention against Doping in Sport have agreed to reinforce the fight against athletes’ use of illegal performance enhancing substances and looked at other ethical issues concerning sport, notably mechanisms to counter the growing threat of match-fixing.

The 260 participants of the fourth Session of the Conference of Parties to the International Convention against Doping in Sport, which took place at UNESCO on 19 and 20 September, decided to strengthen cooperation between UNESCO, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the Council of Europe so as to harmonize anti-doping regulations and rules to halt trafficking of illegal substances. The fight against doping cannot only depend on testing of athletes but increasingly has to rely on information sharing and law enforcement, participants agreed.

Just ahead of the meeting, the States Parties approved the allocation of more then $600,000 to 27 projects to fight doping, which brings the number of initiatives financed by UNESCO’s Fund for the Elimination of Doping in Sport to 120. Since its creation in 2008, the Fund has invested more than $2.1 million on such projects.

The Conference furthermore decided to allocate $175,000 for an 18-month project to help six countries, as yet to be selected, develop national legal frameworks to fight doping.

Source: UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization