10 June 2019
Minister Tõnis Lukas
Minister of Culture
Estonia
Via email:
[email protected]
INVITATION: FIFTH WORLD CONFERENCE ON DOPING IN SPORT
Katowice, Poland - 5-7 November 2019
Dear Minister Lukas,
It is our pleasure to personally invite you to attend the fifth World Conference on Doping in Sport
to be held in Katowice, Poland from 5-7 November 2019. This year’s Conference will mark the
World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA’s) 20 th birthday, having been founded in 1999 as a result of
the first World Conference on Doping in Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Back in 1999, Governments and the Olympic Movement jointly responded to an urgent call to
intensify their efforts to combat doping in sport. They determined that a global strategy, which
combined and coordinated the resources of both sports and governments was necessary to tackle
doping, which was the most significant problem sport had ever faced. Consequently, WADA was
formed to lead a collaborative worldwide movement for doping-free sport and was immediately
tasked with developing the World Anti-Doping Code (the Code), which is the core document that
harmonizes all anti-doping policies, rules, and regulations within sport.
The Code’s development commenced in 2001 and occurred in several stages, following an
extensive consultation process with WADA’s stakeholders. In early March 2003, at the second
World Conference on Doping in Sport in Copenhagen, Denmark, delegates unanimously agreed to
adopt the Code as the nucleus of the fight against doping in sport, and the Code entered into force
on 1 January 2004. In 2007, at the third World Conference in Madrid, Spain, the second version
of the Code was adopted, and in 2013 in Johannesburg, South Africa, the fourth World Conference
confirmed the current version of the Code that has been in force since January 2015.
With over 15 years of existence, the Code and its related International Standards that have been
added over time, have proven themselves effective in strengthening the global anti-doping
program and combating doping. To ensure that forward momentum, the Code and Standards
continue to require regular review, and so in December 2017, WADA initiated the 2021 Code
Review Process on a similar scale to previous stakeholder consultations. The review involves seven
existing Standards and two that are new regarding Education and Results Management.
As a member of the global anti-doping community, we hope that you will be able to join us in
Katowice. Whilst the event will focus on the conclusions of the 2021 Code and Standards review,
Suite 800, 1700 Place Victoria ul. Senatorska 14, 00-082
Montreal QC H4Z 1B7 Canada Warsaw Poland
www.wada-ama.org www.msit.gov.pl
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the Conference will also provide your Government with the opportunity to engage in high-level
discussion with fellow stakeholders about the future of the global anti-doping program. We
encourage you and your staff to visit the Conference website that provides comprehensive
information about the event, and would point out that the first deadline to register and secure
participation is 30 August 2019.
Lastly, please note that this year we are encouraging stakeholders to invite athletes from their
organization to attend the World Conference. As such, organizations may invite one athlete to
register as a delegate on top of their allotment as indicated in the participation terms on the
website. Whilst this might be more directly applicable to our sports colleagues, we nevertheless
wished to highlight this to you and if relevant, we encourage your Government to consider bringing
an athlete who is working with you on your domestic anti-doping program. The same invitation
has been extended to National Anti-Doping Organizations.
We look forward to welcoming you and/or your colleagues in Katowice for what promises to be
another milestone in the history of Clean Sport.
Yours sincerely,
Sir Craig Reedie
President, World Anti-Doping Agency
Suite 800, 1700 Place Victoria ul. Senatorska 14, 00-082
Montreal QC H4Z 1B7 Canada Warsaw Poland
www.wada-ama.org www.msit.gov.pl
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