Recent WADA Audit cites UKAD as “extremely competent” and “high functioning”

In March this year, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) completed a regular virtual audit of UK Anti-Doping’s (UKAD) practices and procedures.

The introduction from the report can be accessed in the document below, we have also included more information on what a WADA audit entails below.

The introduction included the following paragraph summing up UKAD’s operations:

“It is the view of the audit team that UKAD is a high functioning and performing National Anti-Doping Organization (NADO), with extremely competent, dedicated, and passionate staff. The organization is well managed, and well organized. UKAD demonstrated that there is a clear separation between its operational activities and its oversight/strategic activities. UKAD also has a process in place to monitor its National Governing Bodies' (NGBs) compliance in terms of anti-doping, an area which will be further enhanced through its Assurance Framework (included in the revised and recently adopted National Anti-Doping Policy).”

The introduction is taken from the full report. The full report is not available to share publicly due to its reference of confidential case details.

WADA Audits

UKAD’s compliance with World Anti-Doping Code and standards is monitored through WADA’s Compliance Strategy to ensure anti-doping rules and programmes are applied and enforced consistently and effectively across all sports and all countries.

WADA Audits are not investigations and are a regular practice undertaken by WADA; they do not relate to a specific case.

A WADA compliance audit will assess the processes in place around areas such as: Governance, Budgeting and Reporting; Testing and Investigations; Results Management; Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUE); Education; and Data Privacy. 

Corrective Actions

When the audit is completed, the WADA team will provide a report to the anti-doping organisation outlining its findings. This report will include comments on what the organisation does well, and where it can improve. If there are specific changes that need to be made the report will include what are known as Corrective Actions. Corrective actions need to be resolved, within an agreed timeline by the organisation and are categorised into three levels of priority: Critical, High Priority, or General.

UKAD Corrective Actions

Following its most recent audit from WADA, UKAD received a very positive report which highlighted that “…UKAD is a high functioning and performing National Anti-Doping Organization (NADO), with extremely competent, dedicated, and passionate staff. The organization is well managed, well organized, and well resourced (from the Board, the committees and commissions that are in place, to the Executive Team and all the teams/staff).”

As part of the report UKAD received four corrective actions (three critical, one high priority), which UKAD is very confident it can remedy ahead of the deadline set by WADA.