Further to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA’s) communications of 30 May 2022 and 6 July 2022, calling for interested candidates for the upcoming election for eight positions on the Agency’s new 20-member Athlete Council, WADA is pleased to announce that it received 34 eligible nominations for the eight seats (referred to as Group 2 – see below).
WADA President Witold Bańka said: “We are excited by the number of athletes that have expressed interest in becoming members of the Athlete Council. It is clear that athletes are ready to embrace the opportunity for their voices to be heard and their views to be integrated into WADA’s governance and decision-making processes.”
The 34 candidates are listed below in alphabetical order by name. A consolidation of the athlete profiles, with additional details, can be found in one document here.
| Name | Sport Nationality | Nominating International Federation Athlete Commission | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BATES, Evan | USA | International Skating Union (ISU) |
| 2 | BENGTSSON, Gunnar | Sweden | World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF) |
| 3 | BERRIER, Michael | Germany | International Tennis Federation (ITF) |
| 4 | ĆOSIĆ, Ivan | Croatia | World ParaVolley (WPV) |
| 5 | EGAN, Clare | USA | Biathlon (IBU) |
| 6 | GARCIA G., Andrés | Guatemala | Kickboxing (WAKO) |
| 7 | GIBSON, Sean | Ireland | World Lacrosse (WL) |
| 8 | GOMEZ, Inaki | Canada | World Athletics (WA) |
| 9 | HARSS, Jennifer | Germany | International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) |
| 10 | HEDMAN, Deta | England | World Darts Federation (WDF) |
| 11 | HEGYI, Dora | Hungary | International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) |
| 12 | HERNANDEZ CUELLAR, Ana Sophia | Guatemala | World Pentathlon (UIPM) |
| 13 | HORN, Martin | Germany | World Confederation of Billiards Sports (WCBS) |
| 14 | KIT, Kristen | Canada | World Rowing (WR-FISA) |
| 15 | KNOERR, Jérémy | Thailand | International Ski Mountaineering Fed. (ISMF) |
| 16 | KONSTANTINOVA, Sandra | Russia | International Wushu Federation (IWUF) |
| 17 | LIM, Tiffani | Malaysia | International Esports Federation (IESF) |
| 18 | MAY, Bill | USA | International Swimming Federation (FINA) |
| 19 | MAZDZER, Christopher | USA | Federation of International Luge (FIL) |
| 20 | MBEPA GAULOU, Antony Desire | Rep of Congo | International Kurash Association (IKA) |
| 21 | ODUBER, Randolph | Aruba/ Netherlands | World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) |
| 22 | O’LEARY, Patrick | Ireland | International Canoe Federation (ICF) |
| 23 | OSEI, Forrester Christopher | Ghana | International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) |
| 24 | PLECHAN, Agata | Poland | International Floorball Federation (IFF) |
| 25 | REGO, Emmanuel Fernando Scheffer Rego | Brazil | International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) |
| 26 | RIPPEL, Cassio | Brazil | International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) |
| 27 | RISKALLA, Rodolpho | Brazil | Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) |
| 28 | SABLJAK, Ella | Australia | International Wheelchair Basketball Fed. (IWBF) |
| 29 | SCOTT, Thomas | USA | World Karate Federation (WKF) |
| 30 | TAN, Yuan | Belgium | Badminton World Federation (BWF) |
| 31 | VAN DEN BERG, Jan | South Africa | International Practical Shooting Confed. (IPSC) |
| 32 | VIDAL HERRERA, Nilo | Spain | World Squash Federation (WSF) |
| 33 | WYATT, Marcus | Great Britain | International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Fed. (IBSF) |
| 34 | ZECCHINI, Alessia | Italy | World Underwater Federation (CMAS) |
Eligibility
To be eligible for nomination, athletes were required to meet eligibility criteria, as outlined in Article 4 of the WADA Athlete Council Election Procedure. These included: being an International-Level Athlete as defined by the World Anti-Doping Code, within the last nine years, and being from the same sport as the International Federation Athlete Commission (IF AC) nominating them. In addition, the IF AC nominating an athlete was required to meet eligibility criteria, as outlined in Article 3 of the Election Procedure. All 34 candidates were reviewed and confirmed by the Election Scrutineer.
To be eligible to vote in the election, all IF ACs were to meet the same criteria as an IF AC nominating a candidate. All IF ACs were advised of the candidate list on 29 July 2022 and were then asked to advise if they wished to vote in the election and if so, to confirm they were eligible to vote. A total of 61 IF ACs have been confirmed by the Election Scrutineer as able to vote.
Election
The election will be held virtually via an online voting platform between 29-31 August 2022. Only those IF ACs registered and deemed eligible will be able to vote.
The elected candidates will be confirmed by the Election Scrutineer on 1 September and will be announced by WADA shortly after.
WADA Athlete Committee Chair Ben Sandford said: “We are definitely off to a good start with the elections for the Athlete Council. Athletes need to be at the core of what WADA does and there is a strong drive within the athlete community worldwide to be more involved and improve athlete representation in anti-doping. It’s great to see so many athletes stepping up wanting to be involved and meet the challenge.”
Council Composition
The new Athlete Council will be composed of athletes’ representatives chosen by athletes and grouped as follows:
- Group 1: Five athletes appointed by the International Olympic Committee’s and International Paralympic Committee’s Athlete Commissions;
- Group 2: Eight athletes elected by the Athlete Commissions of International Federations (IFs); and
- Group 3: Seven other athletes, to be selected by an appointment panel made up of a majority of athletes, to fill skills and diversity gaps.
Group 3
A call for interest for the Group 3 athletes will be announced in early September 2022. All eligible athletes, including candidates for Group 2 who did not get elected, will be able to apply. Candidates will then be selected by the appointment panel based on skills and diversity analysis.
For more information on the Athlete Council, please visit WADA’s dedicated webpage.
Source: WADA
