WADA has decided! In 2019, Katowice will become the global centre of the fight against doping!
In 2019, the International Conference Centre in Katowice will host the world conference on doping in sport. This is a highly prestigious event for Poland, the city of Katowice and the entire sports community, as well as another important step in the fight for clean sport. It’s in our city that key decisions will be made determining the global strategy in the fight against doping, Minister Witold Bańka said right after WADA (the World Anti-Doping Agency) awarded to Katowice the hosting of the 2019 World Conference on Doping in Sport. At the recent session of WADA Foundation Board in Montreal, Minister Bańka was also formally appointed a member of the organization’s Executive Committee.
The World Conference on Doping in Sport is organized by WADA. Some 2,000 representatives of all groups involved in the fight against doping in sport from the entire globe are expected to visit Katowice to attend the event. During the Conference, new officers of WADA will be appointed and changes in the World Anti-Doping Code will be approved. The conference to be held in Poland will be the fifth edition of the periodic event. The previous editions were held in Lausanne, Copenhagen, Madrid and Johannesburg.
We are facing a big challenge. We are proud that Katowice has found recognition in the eyes of WADA and that we will be hosting this prestigious event. It’s an excellent opportunity to present the capital of the over 2-million Silesian metropolitan area to the most important people in world sport, and to promote our entire region at the global level, said Katowice mayor Marcin Krupa who, together with Minister Witold Bańka, presented Poland’s bid to host the event in Montreal.
We encourage you to view the spot promoting Poland and Katowice as the host of the World Conference on Doping in Sport: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SELKbw789M
WADA is the most important organization dedicated to the fight against doping in sport. It is responsible for setting standards of combating the use of prohibited substances and methods in sport, and monitoring compliance with them. The Agency’s flagship project is the World Anti-Doping Code and accompanying lower-level documents - international standards which, taken together, serve to harmonize activities undertaken to combat doping.
The conference in Katowice will be held prior to the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. Therefore, decisions taken at the conference will have a direct impact on sport and the most important sporting event of that four-year period, Minister Bańka added.
Minister Witold Bańka has been appointed a member of the WADA Executive Committee
During the Polish delegation’s visit to Montreal, Minister Bańka’s candidacy for a seat on the Executive Committee was formally approved. The head of Polish sport will represent the 47 member states of the Council of Europe. Witold Bańka’s candidacy was unanimously supported by the countries represented in the Ad hoc European Committee for the World Anti-Doping Agency (CAHAMA). Previously, no Pole had ever been appointed to such an important position in world anti-doping structures. Minister Bańka was entrusted with this role because of the widespread recognition of actions taken by Poland, and himself as the head of the Ministry of Sport and Tourism, in the fight against doping. In 2016, the ministry drafted an innovative bill on combating doping in sport. It provides for, inter alia, the establishment of a modern Polish Anti-Doping Agency with wide-ranging powers. The bill won the support of every party in the Parliament in April, and was signed into law by the President of Poland on May 15.